REGIS
BIBL. MAJ.
COLLEGE
- '
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
NIHIL OBSTAT:
F. THOMAS BERGH, O.S.B.,
Censor Deputatus.
IMPRIMATUR :
EDM. CAN. SDRMONT,
Vicarius Gcneralis.
WESTMONASTERII,
Die i Scptetiibris, 1921.
THE IDEAL OF
REPARATION
By RAOUL PLUS, SJ.
Translated by
MADAME CECILIA
OF ST. ANDREW'S CONVENT, STREATHAM
REGIS
BIBL. MAJ.
L o &CD o N
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PT(EFACE
WHO WILL MAKE REPARATION ?
rriHESE pages are dedicated to those Christians
whose eyes are open and who have a heart,
X_ to these alone and to no others. Those
who are not resolved to be generous with
God need read no farther.
This book is dedicated to those who have
seen Christ crucified, the Church crucified,
France crucified. It is not for those who have
seen nothing of this triple crucifixion — apparently,
such are to be found.
It is for those who, gazing upon this picture
of death, have realised the necessity of some
work of life; not for those who have gazed upon
the dead body of their Lord, upon millions of
the slain, mere lifeless bodies, without a moment's
reflection, without a feeling of indignation
prompting them, like Elias of old, to exclaim :
Quid hie agis, Elia ? — " What dost thou here,
Elias ? In the midst of these ruins, dost thou
remain listless, indifferent, inactive ?" Et vos
hie sedebitis ?
In his " Journal of a Convert " Van der Meer
de Walcheren gives an account of a " Revival
v
PREFACE
Meeting " in London. Two ministers came
from America; they hired the Albert Hall, where
they addressed more than fifteen thousand men.
One of these preachers invited all who desired
to give themselves to God to come forward.
Clearly his voice rang out : " Who will come to
the Lord ?" For some time the immense
audience remained in anxious, impressive silence.
Then one voice was raised: " I will." At once,
from all parts that cry " I will," " I will," re
echoed. And while the people were slowly
coming down the long flights of stairs and making
their way to the front benches, the two mission
aries, stretching out their arms to them, con
tinued their exhortation : " Who will come to the
Lord ?" Thousands responded and the cry " I
will " resounded continually throughout the
hall.
We do not need these emotional scenes, more
or less artificial. It suffices for us to remember
the words of Christ : Si quis vult venire — " If any
man will. ..." We need volunteers, souls that
offer themselves willingly and that are faithful to
their engagements.
Lord Jesus, raise up these volunteers, souls
that rightly understand the Christian life, and
likewise the nature and necessity of Reparation,
volunteers whose nobility of soul leads them to
vi
PREFACE
give themselves wholly according to their state
of life. Already there are many such, but the
number must be doubled, trebled, nay increased
tenfold. The world will be saved when we have
a sufficient number of souls devoted to Repara
tion and not before.
Will anyone offer himself ? Many devote
their energies to objects far less noble, but none
offers such hidden glory, such imperative urgency
as Reparation.
Si quis vult venire — " If any man will. ..."
Who is willing ?
Here am I, Lord, / will. Enlighten and
strengthen me. Already, I am won over to Thy
cause. Lord, I will.
Vil
IN WHAT REPARATION CONSISTS
TO repair means to put a thing in good
condition again. When a house becomes
dilapidated and uninhabitable, it has to be
repaired or restored. Sometimes the damage
utterly destroys an object. In this case, repara
tion means compensation, giving the equivalent.
In the moral sphere, the equivalent, the ransom
for injury sustained, can only be given by the
oblation of one's self. No material object can
adequately compensate. How can order be
re-established ? By some penalty inflicted upon
the wrong- doer or self-imposed. Having allowed
himself an unlawful and unbridled pleasure,
it is just that some pain, duly proportioned, should
re-establish the moral equilibrium. This is self-
evident, without our discussing theories arising
from the problem of God's vindictive justice.
In this case, the equivalent of the wrong done
is called expiation and, as in the preceding
examples, can be offered by the guilty party him
self, or by one, guiltless of the crime, who offers
himself as surety.
In this book and in the Christian meaning of
ix
INTRODUCTION
the verb, " to repair" has a triple signification:
restore, compensate, expiate. Having once stated
these facts, we will now briefly explain:
I. Why Reparation should be made.
II. Who ought to make it.
III. How it should be made.
PAGE
PREFACE. — Who will make Reparation ? v
INTRODUCTION. — In what Reparation con
sists - ix
PART: i
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
CHAPTER I. — It is a fundamental obligation
of Christianity - 13
CHAPTER II. — Our Lord wishes us to make
Reparation 25
CHAPTER III. — Reparation an actual demand
oj to-day 40
PART II
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
CHAPTER I. — Christians and Reparation 55
CHAPTER II. — Religious and Reparation 73
CHAPTER III. — Priests and Reparation 89
xi
CONTENTS
PART III
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
PAGE
PRELIMINARY NOTE - 113
CHAPTER I. — How we can make Reparation
by leading a simple Christian life - 114
CHAPTER II. — How Religious can make
Reparation - 130
CONCLUSION
xn
PART I
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
Because it is —
1. A fundamental obligation of Christianity,
2. The formal wish of our Lord.
3. An imperative necessity, given the circum
stances.
CHAPTER 1
REPARATION IS A FUNDAMENTAL OBLIGATION
OF CHRISTIANITY
WHY did Christ come upon earth ? To
make Reparation; for no other reason.
He came to repair His Divine work
which sin had ruined, to restore to man
his supernatural life; to compensate, by His
merits, for the insult offered to the Father in the
garden of Eden and for those insults which man's
malice daily renews and multiplies. He came
to expiate by His sufferings — in the stable, during
His Hidden Life and on the Cross — the human
selfishness which began with man's creation and
never ceases.
Our dear Lord could have performed this work
of Reparation alone, but He did not so will it.
He has chosen as associates each one of us, every
Christian. We must grasp this truth well, for
it is the foundation of the doctrine of Reparation.
13
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
St. Paul, when speaking to the early Christians
of their pre-eminent dignity of sharing the very
life of the Son of God, tells them that as Jesus
lives by the Father, so they live by Jesus ; He snares
that life in virtue of His Divine nature, they
in virtue of their adoption. He is their Head;
they are the living members, who, in virtue of
His Sacrifice, possess a Divine life. They are
" divinely naturalised." Union is only perfect
when the members are united to the head and
the head to the members. The Person of Christ
is the Head, they are His members, His Mystical
Body.
Hence, according to the teaching of our Lord
— " I am the Vine, you are the branches " — and
that of St. Paul, the Catholic Church teaches
that the -personal Christ, consisting of the union
of His Divine and human nature, such as, of old,
He lived in Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem,
such as He now lives in the Holy Eucharist,
such as He lives and will live in Heaven until the
end of time, does not constitute the whole Christ.
He has willed it thus. The whole Christ consists
of Himself — the Head, plus ourselves, His Mystical
Body. Our intimate union with His Life ex
plains why our Lord has associated us so closely
with His work of Redemption.
Yet, as we have said, our Saviour could have
perfectly accomplished it alone. He does not
need us to add to His merits, but He wills to make
use of us, that He may increase ours. He is
the Christ; we Christians are each of us alter
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
Christus — " another Christ." We must work
together. The Redemption will only be brought
about by the will of our Saviour — the first
Christ, and of all Christians those other Christs.
Undoubtedly, His participation and ours differ
immeasurably. His has an intrinsic, infinite
value and is, of itself, infinitely sufficient. God
could have dispensed with our co-operation,
but because He loves us, He asks for it.
At the Offertory of the Holy Mass, the priest
first puts wine in the chalice. Then, under pain
of mortal sin, he has to add a few drops of water.
Thus, our Lord's role and ours are symbolised,
together with the proportional value of His
action and ours. The wine alone would suffice
for the validity of the Consecration. Neverthe
less, the drops of water must be added, and by
the effect of the Divine words of Consecration,
they are changed, as well as the wine, into the
Precious Blood.
Granted, our part in the Redemption of the
world is infinitesimally small; what are a few drops
of water ? But God requires it and He transub
stantiates this tiny addition by uniting it with
His own offering. This mere nothing becomes
all-powerful, in virtue of the power communi
cated to it by God.* Thanks to this " nothing "
which has become " something," souls will
be ransomed. Without the offering of this
* Every comparison requires some modification. The
few drops of water are not required for the validity of
the Sacrament,f[but for its licitness.
15
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
" nothing " — so intrinsically insignificant and yet
so really precious, on account of our union with
Christ — many souls would probably be lost.
The world needs all its potential saviours : it
needs Jesus, its chief Saviour, its Saviour par
excellence ; it needs each one of us, who are called
to co-operate with Him in the redemption of
the world. As Lacordaire says : " The human race
had perished as a whole, by men's solidarity,
that is to say by its corporeal and moral union
with Adam its origin. Hence, it was fitting that
humanity should be saved in the measure and
manner of its loss, that is by the means of soli
darity. Where the solidarity of evil had lost all,,
by the solidarity of good, all has been re-estab
lished." (Conference LXVL, De la Reparation.)
We are almost ignorant of our greatness as
Christians, if we do not know our obligation of
sharing in the work of Redemption. If we try
to shirk our part, we are omitting a most noble,
as well as a most peremptory, duty.
But we must examine this matter more closely.
How did Christ make Reparation ?
By suffering.
Here a problem confronts us. The Son of
God, desiring to renew His work, to restore all
to its primitive condition, instaurare omnia, was
not obliged to choose a plan of redemption
which would involve for Himself a life of suffering,
pain and humiliation. Yet it was precisely this
plan that He chose, rejecting all others, because
He willed to repair all by suffering.
16
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
Whence it follows that, as we are necessarily
united with Christ in His mission, since we form
His Mystical Body, so we must necessarily co
operate with Him in His sufferings or " Passion."
Therefore, St. Paul when explaining the necessity
of our co-operating with Jesus in His work of
Redemption, goes straight to the point and tells
us that we must " fill up those things that are
wanting," not in the mission of Christ, but in
His Passion (Adimpleo ea quce desunt passionum
Christi. — Col. i. 24). The two unite, neither
can exist alone. We must make Reparation with
Christ, and we can only do this by uniting our
sacrifice with His.
Bossuet writes : " In order to become the
Saviour of men, Jesus Christ willed to be a Victim.
But since He has a Mystical Body, it follows that
if the Head is immolated, all the members like
wise must become living victims " (Serm. pour
la Pur if. de la Ste. Vierge).
Here is the progression — we might more cor
rectly say the equation — be a Christian, a saviour,
a victim.
Nor is the term " victim " something strange
or new. This doctrine is as old as the Gospel.
It is the very foundation of the preaching of St.
Paul, of the early Fathers and of the Church
in all ages. The Apostle, in his Epistle to the
Romans, sets forth this doctrine very clearly.
He writes : " I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God (xii. i).
17 B
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
We cannot be true Christians and at the same
time strive to lead a comfortable life, hoping
at its close to pass quietly, without any shock,
from a world in which we were very well off,
to a heaven where we shall be perfectly happy;
a heaven that is to be the reward of a life in which
practically our chief anxiety has been to leave
to others the laborious task of co-operating with
Christ in redeeming the world. No, indeed,
such a programme is incompatible with the
Gospel of our Divine Master. His programme
is totally different ; it consists in the " terrible
seriousness of human life," as Bossuet calls it.
Van der Meer de Walcheren, in the Introduction
to his Journal cfun Converti — mentioned in our
Preface — speaking with his usual bitterness, which
is for once fully justified, says: " I am well aware
that there are many so-called rational animals,
who seem to live sixty or eighty years and are
some day buried without ever once emerging
from their nothingness. . . . Appearances were
enough for them, all else had no existence."
" Happily," he adds, " there are some real men,
some who are really alive, and who have not
received their souls in vain."
Shortly before his conversion, he says, referring
to the same subject : " I am more and more stupe
fied at seeing the majority of men living on so
calmly, not troubling themselves in the least
about anything whatever. They wear a fat,
self-satisfied smile, never giving a thought to the
yawning deaths about us"
18
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
Yes, deep abysses surround us: that of man's
sin, that of God's love. God has placed the
latter close to the former, and we stand between
the two with our role clearly and imperatively
defined. It is characteristic of the true disciple
of Jesus Christ that he has found out these abysses
and, in consequence, lives in an irrepressible
anxiety for the salvation of the world, both on
account of the sterility of the Precious Blood
and of his share of responsibility in the story of
the Divine life upon earth.
All Christians are under two obligations : First,
they must make Reparation in union with Jesus
Christ, who came upon earth solely for this purpose
and, with whom, they form one unit. Secondly,
they must make this Reparation as He wills
— namely, by suffering.
Too few of the faithful have the faintest
conception of the Christian life; they seem to
imagine that practically there are two doctrines
taught by our Lord, or at least two ways of inter
preting His one law — one consisting in trying to
suffer, the other in striving not to suffer at all;
one of deliberate mortification, the other of
deliberate avoidance of whatever is irksome.
Briefly stated, they believe in an easy-going,
comfortable kind of Christianity destined for
the majority of Christians, whereas the other
kind of Christianity, austere and crucifying, is
reserved for those stern characters or fantastical
people who feel drawn to it.
They find it quite natural that a priest, such
19
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
as the Cure d'Ars, a Saint, should write as follows :
" Everything reminds us of the cross. We ourselves
are made in the form of a cross. Balm and sweet
ness exhale from the cross. The unction, which
overflows from the cross, inundates our souls,
in proportion as we unite ourselves with it, holding
it tightly against our hearts. The cross contains
more wisdom than any book; all who do not know
this book are ignorant, however many other books
they may have studied. Those only are truly
wise who love and consult this book, who study
it deeply. Bitter as this book is, they are never
happier than when they can immerse themselves
in its bitterness. The more they frequent this
school, the more they desire to remain there,
never do their studies weary them."
In a noviciate of the Franciscans of Mary, in
Canada, on one occasion six religious were wanted
to go to China to take care of some lepers. There
were forty novices, and all the forty volunteered,
each eager to have that honour. Some Chris
tians, hearing this, remark coldly: " It is their
vocation." The very examples which should
arouse these lax souls and convince them that
they are bound to do something, if not as much
as these nuns, only serve as specious pretexts for
justifying their inaction.
They argue thus: Monks and nuns remain in
prayer all night, prostrate before the altar, or
rise for prayer at two in the morning in order
that we may sleep on comfortably in a good bed.
They pass their time in prayer in order to dispense
20
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
us from this exceedingly disagreeable task. They
deprive themselves of food, therefore we can
allow ourselves every luxury. They live in white
washed cells, furnished only, like those of Carmel
ites, with a crucifix, a holy water stoup, a death's
head, and a discipline, so that we may adorn our
houses with numerous ornaments and every
modern comfort. If these religious go without
fires, it is to allow us to have an excellent system
of heating and a pleasant temperature in our
rooms and passages. They sleep on a plank or
a straw mattress, that we may have silken eider
down coverlets and embroidered counterpanes.
Their only jewelry is the cross, therefore we can
wear trinkets and pearl necklaces that cost a
fortune.
Undoubtedly, the perfect life exacts an amount
of suffering, for which an ordinary Christian life
does not call, but can we imagine any truly en
lightened Christian life — even an ordinary one —
that in any way harmonises with the feverish
and pagan pursuit of the comforts of life, which
modern materialism tries — and, unhappily, too
often with success — to impose upon so many of
Christ's disciples ?
What then 1 Is Christ, perchance, divided ? —
Nonne divisus est Christus ? Are there two Christs ?
Is there a crucified Christ, whom we can only
serve by our crucifixion, and a restful Christ, whom
we can manage to follow quite well while partaking
of all life's joys and pleasures ? St. Paul did not
preach two Christs. He knew of One only,
21
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
" Christ crucified " — Christum et bunc crucifixum
(i Cor. ii. 2).
Men have changed this since St. Paul's; time.
Now they know of two. The first, the true Christ,
did not suffice, so they invented another, one
without a cross, or a crucifying doctrine, a Christ
without those two beams which cast such a dis
quieting impressive shadow, a Christ whose
demands amount to this: Live as you please; I
promise you a happy eternity, provided that
" you turn to me in your last moments with your
darkening mind, that you repent with your
failing will and give me the alms of your last
breath."*
There is no such Christ as this for Christians
who will not suffer. The disciple is not greater
than his Master. Our Saviour has suffered,
and every Christian must suffer in some form or
other — as we shall explain — if he would not
prove false to his name, or fail to accomplish his
mission; he must always and necessarily be the
friend of suffering.
A great Belgian statesman took for his motto,
" Rest elsewhere." The day of perfect happiness,
perhaps not far off, will surely dawn, perhaps
soon, and will have no sunset. Meanwhile
time is given us that we may merit " the joy of
the Lord." Intra in gaudium Domini tui. But
we can only enter into the joy of the Lord on
condition that upon earth we have shared the
* Philippe Gounard, killed in the War. Reflexions et
Lectures^ pp. 204, 205.
22
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
sufferings of our Lord. Christ was the first to
choose suffering as the way into glory. " Gol
gotha is not a rhetorical flourish." For us too
the same rule holds — oportuit pati Christum et
ita intrare in gloriam suam.
We wish to triumph with Him, therefore we
must fight with Him. In the Exercises of St.
Ignatius, in the Contemplation on the Kingdom,
the Saint places these words on our Lord's lips:
Laborare mecum. Pizarro, a conqueror of South
America, disembarked and threw his sword upon
the ground to mark off the bravest, and called
out : " Let all who are afraid remain where they
are, let the others cross over and follow me."
This is stern language, and in spite of the con
vincing force of the doctrine many draw back
rather than face the suffering which is the in
evitable consecration of all Christian life.
" How those two arms of the Cross frighten me,
as they stand out on the hill of Calvary ! I feel
more inclined to hide behind them than to be
nailed upon them !"
" Yes, the wood is hard; but there is something
more than the wood. There is One nailed to
those arms. The wood is dead, but a living One
is fastened to it. Looking at the Cross, as we
ought to look at it, we no longer see the two
arms, they disappear or at least become indistinct;
the Body hanging there, alone rivets our attention
and, in the midst of this Body, shining through
an open wound — the Heart. We say: ' the
Crucifix.' We are wrong: for we appear to
23
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
name a thing. We ought to say : ' The Crucified,'
for that shows a person."
" A person ? Yes, in truth, a Person who is
both human and Divine. What ! Is it Thou,
my God, who hangest there ?"
" Yes, It is I."
" Now I seem to understand better, I almost
grasp the truth: I will suffer with Thee, Lord,
but Thou wilt suffer with me. With Thee, I
shall be brave and march resolutely forward."
" That thou mayest have still more courage
stand at the foot of My Cross and look round
upon the world. Look at My executioners
as they go down the slope of Calvary; look at
Jerusalem, wrapped in slumber, where the mul
titudes know nothing. Thou must suffer in order
that My Redemption may avail them. I have
willed that thou shouldst help Me. I can do
all with thee and nothing without thy aid. Wilt
thou that we save the world together ? Or dost
thou prefer to go away along with all the crowd ?"
" Art Thou really speaking to me, Lord ?
Surely, Thou knowest not who I am !"
" Thou art one of Mine own. Is that not enough
for me to ask thee to work, suffer and endure with
Me ? The task is immense as thou seest. But I
assure thee that it is worth the price, though it in
volve the oblation of thyself as a living victim, in
union with Me, even in thy present state of life."
" Dost Thou think I can ? A living victim
along with Thee, O Lord ? Ah, yes, with all
my heart — take me !"
24
CHAPTER II
OUR LORD WISHES US TO MAKE
REPARATION
f I 1HE necessity for our making Reparation is
logically deduced from the very foundation
of our Catholic Faith and, in particular,
from the doctrine of the Mystical Body of
Christ, and that of the Redemption. It is like
wise shown to be an imperative duty from the
long, formal, and constantly reiterated chain
of instructions given by our Blessed Lord.
Whether we open the Gospels, or examine the
great revelations handed down to us, we constantly
see our Lord setting forth His great desire to find
souls capable of suffering, utilising it for the glory
of God and the salvation of souls.
Let us turn first to the Gospel. There are
numerous texts which teach the obligation of
doing penance as an act of Reparation; no law is
more frequently inculcated.
Our Master chose St. John the Baptist as His
precursor. What did he preach ? " The bap
tism of penance for the remission of sins " (St.
Luke iii. 3). What does he continually repeat,
day after day, on the banks of the Jordan, where
Jesus Himself was soon to commence His
ministry? " Do penance, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand " (St. Matt. iii. 3). How
does he live ? As an example : " John had his
25
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
garment of camel's hair ... his meat was locusts
and wild honey," his abode " the desert of
Judea " (ibid., ver. 4). How does he answer those
who came to him asking " Who art thou ?" —
" I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness :
Make straight the way of the Lord." Men had
made God's path crooked; it had to be made
straight again : this is reparation.
What a well- merited rebuke he gave to those
hypocrites who came to ask for the baptism of
penance, without any intention or desire to lead
a better life ! " Ye brood of vipers. . . . Bring
forth fruit worthy of penance. . . . The axe
is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree that
doth not yield good fruit shall be cut down
and cast into the fire. . . . Hasten, for there
cometh One; He is even now among you, and you
know Him not. If He finds good wheat, He will
gather it into His barns, but He will burn up the
chaff with unquenchable fire."
Is it possible to set forth, in a clearer or more
thrilling manner, the necessity of suffering as an
act of expiation, the obligation of returning to the
straight path, of atoning for past faults, of im
ploring pardon by offering some proportionate
penance ?
Afterwards our Blessed Lord Himself appeared
in public. He commenced His ministry by
fasting in the' desert for forty days. When He
called men to be His Apostles, He bade them
leave all and follow Him, and exhorted the crowds
that surrounded Him to deny themselves. St.
26
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
Matthew significantly remarks : " From that
time, Jesus began to preach and to say: Do
penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
St. Matthew seems to point out that from the
very beginning of Jesus' Public Life, He preached
on the theme so dear to Him and so constantly
reiterated in His discourses.
Moreover, our Lord extolled suffering and
expiation for sin all His life. He taught men to
give one coat to the poor if they had two; not to
trouble about what they should wear; that money
was to be despised and heavenly treasures alone
valued. He constantly anathematised those who
loved the broad road, and ever strove to lead
men to walk in the narrow way. He predicted
untold woes to the rich and to hypocrites. He
taught men that the truly blessed are those who
are poor and gentle; those who weep; those
who thirst for justice, who are merciful, pure in
heart ; those who are peacemakers, and who suffer
persecution. Such is His doctrine ! " Are you
willing," He asks, " to follow Me seriously ?
Then, as a preliminary step, you must deny
yourselves and embrace the cross with both hands :
nothing less will avail."
Our Lord does not restrict His teaching to
words: had God merely given maxims or pre
cepts, He would not have been understood.
He reduced His words to actions, " The Word
was made flesh." That which had hitherto
reached only to the ear became visible to the eye :
precept became example. Jesus lived His whole
27
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
life upon earth as a Victim, that He might give
us an example and teach us how to suffer.
As soon as He came into this world — ingredient
mundum — how did He explain His life's work ?
Dicit : hostiam et oblationem noluisti. Tune dixi :
ecce venio (He saith : " The victims of the past
thou wouldest not; then said I : Behold, I come ").
In the womb of Mary, Jesus only began His
apprenticeship for the victim's life He was to
lead later on in the confinement of innumerable
tabernacles. Jesus was born; and in the manger,
in the stable, in Bethlehem, He was still a victim.
As Tertullian writes: " He was a Victim from the
virgin birth." From his birth onward, His
sufferings continued; He endured the Circum
cision, the Flight into Egypt, the Exile there —
nothing was lacking as regards suffering. Hence,
in His Public Life, Jesus could say " Blessed are
those that suffer;" " Blessed are the poor." How
these words would have provoked resentment,
had He been born in luxury ! But He was the
most destitute and afflicted of all.
In Nazareth, He lived a hidden life. Had He
not done so, men would never have accepted
the doctrine of humility which He preached
afterwards. As it is, in spite of His example,
how few trouble about His doctrine ! Men love
to be seen; He effaced Himself during thirty
years. A ransom was required to atone for men's
pride, so Jesus lived a hidden obscure life of painful
toil. Holman Hunt, in his celebrated painting
" The Shadow of the Cross," represents our Lord
28
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
stopping work, standing up, and stretching out
his arms to ease their weariness. The light
flings His shadow back upon the blank wall,
which is horizontally divided by a shelf from
which hang some carpenter's tools. The effect is
striking. It is that of a man's form standing
out in relief from a cross.
During His Public Life, Jesus, wearied and
footsore, tramped the roads of Palestine in search
of souls. He was thirsty and asked the woman
of Samaria for a drink; He spent nights in prayer;
unceasingly he exercised His ministry. Foxes
have their holes; birds, their nests; but the Son
of Man had not where to lay His head, not a
roof to shelter Him. He had to make Reparation
for all those who pursue vain things, and worship
the golden calf; for the children of God who
either forget or deliberately neglect to pray to
Him; for the sowers of evil seeds, and for those
in whom the good seed remains sterile. When
Jesus began His Ministry, what name did the
Baptist give Him ? " The Lamb of God who
taketh away the sin of the world." John meant:
Here is the silent Victim for all men who will
save the world. Throughout three years, Jesus
with Divine patience endeavoured to impress
upon His Apostles that the Christ must be
delivered up to His enemies. They could not
understand His words; their meaning only dawned
upon them when, from their hiding-places in
Jerusalem, they saw Him afar off nailed to the
Cross on the summit of Calvary.
29
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
But above all, Jesus stands forth as our Victim
in His Passion. Then, because He so willed, He
was betrayed, denied, insulted, buffeted, outraged
and nailed to the Cross. Thus He willed to
teach us to suffer in our body, our affections, our
reputation and our honour. He suffered like
wise, because Divine justice required some
compensation for all those who only live for
pleasure, who betray their baptismal vows and
their Faith, for those who deny the Faith, who
mock at the Passion and persecute Christ's
disciples, for those who scoff at the Church,
the Pope and priests — in a word, for all who,
in their shameless egoism, find the Cross of Christ
so irksome. Christ so much loved Reparation that
He glorified it in Mary Magdalene, once publicly
known as a sinner, who became in " Mary of Be-
thania," where He called her to Himself, a model of
repentance and love, and afterwards Mary of Gol
gotha. At the foot of the Cross there were but
three — you will never find many where there is
suffering to endure — three only, one man and two
women — Mary, John, and the Magdalene — be
tween two who had never lost their innocence, one
with innocence regained at the price of generous
expiation through a twofold breakage, her broken
vase and her broken heart. To such a degree
was her soul purified, that she was the first, after
our Lady, who was privileged to see the Risen
Saviour on Easter morning.*
* Reparation is commonly used in the sense of com
pensating for others. Clearly this does not exclude the
30
WET REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
We have seen how greatly our Lord values
Reparation; leaving the Gospel, let us now turn
to the great revelations handed down to us in
the history of the Church. What do we learn
from those of Paray, Lourdes, la Salette, Pelle-
voisin, Pontmain ?
In the revelations made to St. Margaret
Mary our Lord's one object appears to have been
to ask for Reparatory sacrifices. Let us take a
few examples from her life: On one occasion
Jesus said to her: " Behold the Heart, which has
so loved men and in return only receives ingrati
tude and contempt. That is why I ask thee to
make Reparation."
The Saint tells us: "The Sacred Heart wills
idea of expiating one's own faults when one has committed
any, and one's own " indelicacies " which one is never
without. We may note an instance of the pain felt by a
truly loving spirit at the thought of its least daily short
comings in the account of Sister Gertrude Mary by the
Abbe Legueu (p. 99) : " I feel quite sad at the thought
of loving our dear Lord so little. How grateful I am
to you for showing me my indelicacies. ' Indelicacy '
towards our Lord is a word that touches me very deeply.
It has wounded me to the quick. I don't mean, I am
annoyed by it. Oh, no: I am very grateful to you for
it, but I want to tell you that I feel how much I am
constantly grieving our Lord. ... O dear Jesus, in
return for all the love Thou dost lavish upon me, I give
Thee nothing but indelicacy and ingratitude." After
that we are not surprised at our Lord saying to her:
" My Child, bestow upon Me numbers of little atten
tions." (The account is taken from Une mystique de
nos jours. Angers, 1910.)
31
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
that souls should make Reparation by returning
Him love for love, and that they should humbly
implore pardon of God for all the insults that
are offered to Him."
Again, Jesus said to her: " My daughter, it
is true that My Heart has sacrificed everything
for men, without receiving from them any
return. I feel this more acutely than the tor
ments of My Passion. In spite of all My eagerness
to do them good, they treat me with coldness
and contempt. Give Me the pleasure of making
up for their ingratitude."
In 1669 in the month of February, at the time
of the Carnival, St. Margaret Mary wrote to
the Rev. Mother de Saumise: " The loving Heart
of Jesus seems to make me this request, namely,
that I would stay with Him, close to His Cross in
these days, during which all rush madly after
pleasure, and that by the bitterness, which He
will make me taste, I should, in some measure,
compensate for the bitterness with which sinners
immolate His Sacred Heart. He wishes me to
grieve unceasingly with Him to prevent sinners
from filling up the measure of their guilt."5
In order that Reparation might be made by
devout souls, our Lord asked for a special feast
to be instituted in honour of His Sacred Heart,
for the Communion of Reparation on the first
Friday of each month, and at other times for this
same object; and for the practice of the Holy
* Vie et (Euvres de la Bse M. -Marie, par Mgr.
Gauthey, t. ii., p. 425.
32
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
Hour. Most of Christ's instructions to St.
Margaret Mary tended to train her — and through
her ourselves — in a spirit of Reparation.
This is what He asked of her for the Holy Hour :
" Every week from the Thursday night to the
Friday morning, I will cause thee to share in the
deadly sadness which I allowed to overwhelm
My soul in the Garden of Olives. Thou wilt
rise between eleven o'clock and midnight and
remain prostrate flat upon the ground for one
hour, that thou mayest satisfy the Divine justice,
by imploring mercy for sinners and likewise,
in some measure, mitigate the sadness I felt
when my Apostles abandoned Me and could not
watch even one hour with Me."
It is impossible to misunderstand our Lord's
meaning. The first time the Sacred Heart ap
peared to this Saint on December 27, 1673, He was
seen upon the altar, the chosen place of sacrifice,
with the face of one in pain. He asked her to
draw a picture of His Sacred Heart, with the
wound made by the lance, surrounded by a crown
of thorns and surmounted by a cross. Hence
we can well understand the fiery utterances
of St. Margaret Mary. She exclaims : " If only
you knew how our Sovereign urges me to love
Him with a love that will share His life of suffer
ing ! I know of nothing that is more fitted
to ease the tiresomeness of our lives, than patient
endurance with love. Let us suffer lovingly
without complaining and count as lost all moments
passed without suffering." The whole life of
33 c
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
this Saint is one hymn of Reparation, of love
that begets conformity to His suffering life.
It is useless to give copious citations from her
life or works, they must be read through.
The Rev. Pere Terrien in his well-grounded
book on Devotion to the Sacred Heart, says : " To
make Reparation is to love, but above all to suffer,
to sacrifice self through love "* (T. iii., ch. iii.).
" It is in the Heart of Jesus that we obtain
the precious supplement of love, which alone
can render our reparations really pleasing to
Him."
Jesus knocks at the door of our heart, asking
us to make Reparation, but our poor alms have no
value unless they pass through His Heart. There
is a blessed ebb and flow of the tide of love, it
originates with Him and invites us, and our
love must return to that centre if we are to
correspond effectually with His advances.
David said that he had found his heart that he
might speak to God; we can do better than find
ours, seeing that we have the Heart of the Son
* This love does not, however, take away our instinc
tive horror of pain. Thus we find our Lord saying to
Saint Teresa: " My daughter, thou askest Me for suffering
and then complainest when I send it. . . . Nevertheless,
I answer thy prayer considering thy set will and purpose,
rather than the natural repugnances of thy nature "
(Life of St. Teresa). Mark well the words thy will.
It is a question of will and not of feeling. True piety,
the piety that makes reparation, has nothing to do with
feeling. This truth should be printed at the foot of
every page of this book.
34
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
of God. St. Bonaventure's sole desire was to
dwell therein. He pitied the blindness of those
who do not know how to find entrance into Christ,
through His open wounds, especially that of His
Heart.
We then will say: " Introibo ad altar e Dei —
I will enter humbly, but resolutely, even to the
altar of my God." In the Office of Lauds the
Hymn for the Feast of the Sacred Heart says
in substance: " O Heart, symbol of Christ's
passion of body and soul, as a Priest He offered
in thee His twofold sacrifice. Who would not
venerate and love thee ? Who would not choose
thee for his dwelling-place for ever ?" This
holy sanctuary of His Heart, where Jesus con
tinually renews His Sacrifice, shall likewise be
mine: there I will offer my humble share in His
work of Redemption. How can I do this ?
By striving to unite my sentiments with those
of His Adorable Heart, in conformity with the
spirit of the Apostleship of Prayer, which is one
of many methods and ranks with the best.
But what are the sentiments of the Sacred
Heart ? Consider first His " Ecce venio /" — Lo,
I come, I offer, I give Myself. The whole life
of Christ is one prolonged " Ecce," one unceasing
ratification of the immolation of His first day.
Ecce Rex ! on Palm Sunday. Ecce Homo / on
Good Friday. Ecce Agnus Dei! There is our
Lord on the banks of the Jordan and in the
Eucharist. Mary, the most faithful of all His
imitators, had her " Ecce " likewise. Ecce an-
35
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
cilia ! -- " I offer myself, I give myself up to Thee "
— was her unceasing prayer.
Two ardent desires continually flow from the
Heart of Jesus. First, He is consumed by an
insatiable thirst to do the Will of His heavenly
Father; secondly, He thirsts continually for the
baptism of blood which is to save us from eternal
death. Now this twofold desire extends, in
Jesus, to all that constitutes Jesus.
It is indisputable that in His personal Humanity,
our Blessed Lord can no longer humble Himself
or suffer. But we constitute His Mystical Body,
and He desires that each Christian should give
himself wholly to the fulfilling of God's will.
The Sacred Heart desires each one to offer those
Acts of Reparation which have to be united to His
own Sacrifice. If Jesus can no longer humble
Himself in Himself, He can do so in us, for we
are one with Him. This is why He asks for our
share and our offerings.
Alas, how few understand His appeal, how few
accept ! Nevertheless, all true devotion to the
Sacred Heart goes as far as this. It even con
stitutes its very essence and those who interpret
it otherwise either diminish or distort it.
In the Eucharist, Jesus is with us under the
form of the " host," i.e., victim, thus clearly
expressing His ardent desires. Under the species
of the Sacrament, our Lord does not actually
suffer from the indifference, irreverence, immorti-
fication, pride, revolt and sacrilege of men.
But when He trod this earth He foresaw all these
36
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
and suffered unspeakable tortures on account of
these insults and outrages offered to the Divine
Majesty and from man's horrible neglect of God's
laws. He foresaw every single sinful act and
atoned for each in detail.
He asks us to console Him now for all His
Sacred Heart suffered in those hours of trial;
He wills that, by our piety, we should make Him
some compensation. Since He has chosen to
perpetuate by the Holy Eucharist the Sacrifice
which He consummated upon the Cross, how can
we better satisfy His desire than by continuing
His sacrifice as He Himself does — i.e., by becoming
victims in union with Him ? And since, in this
Sacrament of love, Jesus still mystically hungers
unspeakably and suffers an unquenchable thirst
to accomplish the Will of God and save souls,
what can we do better than enter into the senti
ments of the Divine Guest of our tabernacles ?
We shall emphasise this point farther on, when
explaining the nature of the love for the Blessed
Sacrament which should animate a soul devoted
to Reparation. Let what has been said suffice
for the present. When we rightly understand
true devotion to the Sacred Heart, our Eucharistic
life becomes the union of two hosts or victims
in the union of one perfect oblation; and when
we truly grasp the meaning of our Eucharistic
life, that is of our union with Jesus as Victim,
our devotion to the Sacred Heart then becomes
practically one sustained effort of s elf -renunciation
in order to become a living " appearance,"
37
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
under which Christ alone lives. We aim at
becoming a living " appearance," that He may
use us as an instrument to continue the accom
plishment of His Divine work; a living " appear
ance " that is unceasingly sacrificed with Him in
the unity of the same sacrifice for the glory of the
Adorable Trinity and for the salvation of souls.
We have dwelt somewhat on the revelations
of Paray le Monial and the devotion to the Sacred
Heart because they bear on the subject of Repara
tion. This holds good of the great apparitions of
our Lady in France — to mention only those of
the nineteenth century. In all these it seems as
though their sole object was to remind men of
the need for Reparation. To Bernadette, our
Blessed Lady expressed her grief at the invasion
and flooding of the world by sin, and as some
compensation, she asked that men should pray
and do penance. She told Bernadette to recite
the Rosary and asked that a church should be
built at Lourdes in which God would be glorified
by the public homage of the ardent acclamations
of countless pilgrims boldly vindicating their
living faith in an age characterised by blasphemy
and forgetfulness of God. Above all, she in
sisted upon the necessity of doing penance,
saying sorrowfully : " Penance, penance, penance."
When she appeared to two children at La
Salette she urged them to pray and do penance.
She told them sorrowfully that God was about
to chastise men severely unless they prayed and
38
WET REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
did penance. She mentioned blasphemy and the
desecration of the Sabbath as the two sins that
especially cried to Heaven for vengeance.
What are we to learn from all this ? The need
of souls — souls devoted to reparation. God is
saddened by men's sin. It will fare badly with
us if there are not voluntary victims forthcoming
to fling into the other scale of Divine justice
their sacrifices to God.
39
CHAPTER III
REPARATION, AN ACTUAL DEMAND OF
TO-DAY
THE more sterile the land, the greater is
the call for labour. Morning and night
we pray " Thy kingdom come," and yet
what is more self-evident than the fact
that our wish is still unrealised ?
Who would dare assert that God's kingdom has
come ? Is it not only too manifest that God's
kingdom has not come and that we see no signs
whatever of its advent ?
Peguy places on the lips of St. Joan of Arc
some words which fittingly describe the sad
state of things at the commencement of Charles
VI. 's reign, words which can truthfully be said by
us in our days : " Our Father, who art in Heaven,
how far, far off is the hallowing of Thy Name, how
far off the coming of Thy Kingdom ! The
world is worse than ever. If only we could see
the sun of Justice rise. But, O God, forgive me
for venturing to say it, Thy Kingdom seems to
be going farther and farther away. Never has
Thy Name been so blasphemed nor Thy Will
treated with such contempt. Never has man
been so disobedient. We have not yet enough
saints upon earth; send us as many as we need,
as many as are necessary to dishearten the enemy."
Huysmans, in his admirable Introduction to
40
WET REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
the Life of St. Lydwine of Schiedam (d. 1433),
gives an outline of the state of the world when
God chose Lydwine for Himself. When skating
one day she was knocked down and broke her ribs.
Gangrene set in, and for thirty- eight years she
endured intolerable sufferings both in soul and
body. She was chosen by God to keep Satan
thus in check, and to hinder the daily increase
of his kingdom.
Has the world changed much since the times
of St. Lydwine ? In her days men killed one
another. Our age can vie with that of those older
barbarians. Nations were crumbling to dust in
decrepitude and decadence, men were willing
bond slaves of paid sophists and false shepherds
without a conscience. Have we not seen this
also ? Money to bribe traitors was plentiful in
those times. Is it not always at hand ? There
are philosophers in abundance, now as then, ready
i X ^ /
to excuse the greatest atrocities.
Love of pleasure reigns universally. " In a
few days, I shall be twenty-three. It is time to
enjoy myself." This motto chosen by Beyle
has been practically followed by whole generations.
Sin displays itself with such disconcerting cyni
cism and abundance. One hardly knows where to
stop when giving examples.
In an article entitled Panem et circenses (Bread
and the show of the circus) — the cry of the
populace of ancient Rome — Monsieur Reverdy
gives statistics of the amounts realised in 1915, the
second year of the War, by the principal pleasure
41
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
centres in France, such as theatres, cinemas,
smoking concerts. The total amounted to
22,880,000 francs. Of this sum the theatres
received 8,000,000 francs, the cinemas 7,000,000,
and the concerts and music-halls netted the rest.
" Thus nearly twenty- three millions of francs
(about .£1,120,000 sterling) were spent on plea
sure by a country in the throes of war, and in
which few families had been spared bereavements
in War victims. This is rather a large sum."
" Large " indeed ! It is neither more nor less
than monstrous. Yet while our Bishops and
all who are zealous for the moral purity of our
streets protest against the display of bad books
and suggestive pictures, there are actually men
who clamour for " room to be found for free and
easy behaviour and moving voluptuousness and
even — why not ? — for the indulged sensualism
so often found in so many of our French literary
masterpieces."
Then behind these open vices are all the faults
that are sheltered and hidden.
" Lord, may Thy Kingdom come ! Alas !
How far off it still is !"
Out of one thousand five hundred million
human beings, there are only five hundred and
twenty million Christians: of this number, only
two hundred and sixty millions are Catholics, the
rest are schismatics or Protestants. The remainder
of the total consists of Jews, infidels and pagans.
Yet the dear Lord shed His Blood for all !
Alas ! We lack Apostles. Twenty- seven cen-
42
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
turies ago the prophet Amos uttered this strange
prophecy under the sycamores of Bethel: " Be
hold the days will come, saith the Lord, and I
will send a famine into the land; not a famine
of bread, not a thirst of water, but of hearing the
word of the Lord. And they shall move from
sea to sea ... they shall go about seeking the word
of the Lord and shall not find it" (viii. u).
It is the same now; although Christ has come,
the nations sit in the shadow of death.
A tribe in Central Madagascar had been de
prived of their pastor. He was needed elsewhere,
for there was a dearth of priests. This is what the
deserted flock wrote to his Superior : " A terrible
misfortune has happened to us. We are like
men who have been suddenly plunged in utter
darkness through the extinguishing of their torch.
The torch of the Catholic Faith had shone upon
us and made us supremely happy. Alas ! How
sad is our fate now ! Help us, Father, hear
our cry of distress; we are like sheep without a
shepherd, the sport of wolves. Send us back our
priest."
True devotedness to the cause that we espouse
means a great deal. It entails the service of our
mind and intelligence and above all of our heart.
It means loving the cause we are eager to further
so much, that we are prepared to sacrifice our
selves wholly together with our tastes, preferences,
habits and inclinations and not merely a given
portion of them. It means loving souls so ar
dently that we go in pursuit of them, without
43
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
waiting for them to come to us, without looking
for their love and gratitude in return, but de
voting ourselves solely for the love of God and of
souls. Such self-devotedness is by no means
easy, and this is why the world in desolation
clamours for it. The source of Divine grace is
ever within reach, ready to gush forth in living
streams and to cleanse men from sin, to purify
conscience, give sight to the blind, heal the leper
and the paralytic, but volunteers are needed, as
at the Pool of Bethsaida, to bring God's help
to succour the misery of humanity.
Valentine Riant used to say: " If devoted-
ness is required, I am ready." She accepted
generously the call to consecrate her life as one
act of Reparation for the abominations and vile
crimes of the world. But how few have the
courage to imitate her example !
After the siege of Paris in 1871, Renan and
some of his friends had a gold medal struck,
bearing an inscription which ran thus : " During
the war, some people used to meet at Brebant's
every fortnight, and never once noticed that
they were dining in a city numbering two millions
of the besieged."
It is ever thus. The world contains two classes
of people: the few who, like that generous victim
of Reparation, have eyes to see and intelligence
to know what is passing around them, and who
are so affected by the sight, that they are forced
to give their assistance, and the others who,
imitating Renan, the egoist, and his associates —
44
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
and their name is " legion " — see and understand
nothing, or if they by chance obtain some inkling
of the truth, take no heed. In the midst of a
world that is hurrying on to destruction, they
think only of feasting at the restaurants of their
times. In any case, they give no thought to the
millions of unhappy beings around them, creatures
who are enslaved by wretchedness, doubts and
want of God. We all know Carlyle's caustic
remark about the " Eighteen millions, mostly
fools:'
As we are so accustomed to live in the midst
of egoism which prevails and rules everywhere,
we do not perceive the hatefulness of this vice.
Those whom some special grace has enlightened
in their darkness of unbelief outside the Church,
and led them suddenly to the clairvoyance of
faith in the Gospel, are full of astonishment and
contempt for the " nobodies " who fill the world
and want nothing beyond the vanities which
satisfy their mean desires.
The Dutch artist, Pierre Van der Meer, in his
" Journal," owns that while on his way to faith
he is amazed at seeing the utter indifference of
some people, and they are the majority.
He passed through the City of London, " that
mournful region of trade, money and business. . . .
From every door, street, corner, by- place and
blind alley, gentlemen were dashing out, dressed
in black and hatless. They all rushed in the same
direction and apparently to the same place. A
Japanese Loan had just been floated, the sub-
45
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
scription lists were open. Evidently, there was
money to be won, and like savages they dashed
after their prey."
Another time, he reached Paris by the express
which arrived at six a.m. He writes: " On the
Boulevards Rochechouart and Clichy, I witnessed
the joys and sorrows of the preceding night.
The chandeliers were still alight in a large room
on the first floor of a cafe. Presently I heard the
shrill harsh laugh of some girl. I met men and
women in evening dress. With drawn tired
features and dull eyes they were hurrying home on
foot or seeking for some conveyance."
Elsewhere, he sees men who simply live to
eat. Speaking of one he says : " This glutton
certainly has no fear of death, nor does he concern
himself unduly with the mystery of life. What
can be the life of the soul in such an individual ?"
Again he writes : " An old American lady
boards in our hotel." She boasts of having neither
relatives nor friends. " Yet," she said, " all the
same I have one unique friend; here it is," she
added, as she threw down her purse on the table.
Consider two other examples of a worldly life.
A young girl lay on her death-bed and just as
she was expiring she said to the nun, who was
nursing her: " Sister, my hands are empty."
An Austrian nobleman, a relative of Count
Czernin, as he lay dying, said : " When God asks
me to render an account of my life, what shall
I answer ? I can only say : Lord, I have killed
hares and hares and hares, and nothing more.
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
It is really too insignificant," and he spoke the
truth. We are no partisans of Jansenism, no
enemy of lawful amusements, but we condemn
the terrible habit of looking at life from the sole
point of view of how much pleasure it can be
made to yield. There is something else to do.
But we have not yet touched bottom. Men
might at least be contented with neglecting God
as is the case with the majority, but some go
further. For them, it does not suffice to ignore
God, they are animated by a most virulent hatred
of their Creator and of the Catholic Church.
We were justly stirred up to anger and resent
ment by the sacrilegious fury of our enemies
during the War against our churches; but was
not a book entitled La Grande Pi tie des Eglises de
France published long before the War ?
Yet, after all, material monuments are little
compared with that great spiritual temple — the
Catholic Church which is the Bride of Christ.
How does the world treat it ? We need not go
far back in order to catch the echoes of menacing,
inimical words in our public legislative assemblies.
Here are a few examples: " In 1905 or 1906 at
the latest, Catholicism will be dead and buried."
" I mean to put an end to this clerical reaction,
three months will do. I need no more." " This is
what you would say, O Catholic Church, but you no
longer have any life in you." " The Church is fall
ing to pieces." These sentiments were expressed
as recently as 1903, 1904, 1906 and 1908.
47 \
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
Active measures followed upon these words,
innumerable Acts against religion were passed.
Thousands of the best disciples of Jesus Christ,
torn between their patriotism and their Faith,
had to go into exile. They alone know what
great sacrifices this involved.
Look at that marble tablet placed over the
entrance to a home for the aged. After the
monks had left the Carthusian Monastery of
Neuville, near Montreuil-sur-mer, the civil
authorities made the building into an alms-
house for the aged, and on this marble tablet in
golden letters (well befitting the words, forsooth !)
this inscription is inscribed:
" The sad and solitary life hitherto led in this
cloistered monastery has disappeared for ever.
It has given place to a free and open life, active
and fruitful for the progress of mankind. With
the works of the past, we construct the works of
the future."
This inscription is a quotation from the dis
course delivered at the inauguration of the alms-
house.
In France we have had divorce laws, " Priests
turned into Tommies," and general laicisation.
Then came the laws of association, decrees to
put us outside the law. And now we have
Separation and the Inventories. And where
is Jesus Christ in all this ? And where are His
teaching and His Vicar and His ministry, and
His chosen disciples ?
We yield to none in honouring our beloved
WHY REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
country. But let us not imitate the pharisaism of
those who refuse to acknowledge her mistakes.
For the sake of her future let us make honest
admissions.
Rene Bazin, writing during the War with his
usual delicacy of expression, sets forth the anomaly
of a crucifix — which for years had occupied a
place of honour in the schoolroom — being found
by some American soldiers in the school-mis
tress's attic. The crucifix had been relegated
to the rubbish heap ! Surely such an act of
vandalism helps to explain how a conversation
such as the subjoined could take place. Two
children were in the Museum at Cluny looking
at a large crucifix: " Look, Madeleine," said
one, " does not that man look wretched ?"
" Why does he hang down his head ?" " He
seems to be crying, don't you think so ?"
Yes, poor little ones, indeed He weeps; He
weeps because you do not know Him. He sheds
tears because some of your own family have
prevented your knowing and loving Him.
What meanness there is in these attacks
against Religion, be they open or secret !
Formerly our coins bore the inscription " God
protects France." This glorious sentence has
been suppressed and it is considered a disgrace
to name the Master of the Universe in a public
speech or an official document.
God ! Why He no longer exists ! One
public statesman has grandiosely declared that
" All the stars are extinguished." Another
49 D
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
speaks of himself as " God's personal enemy."
Jaures, the greatest advocate of laicisation, in
an eloquent discourse that concealed assertions
no less blasphemous, made the subjoined state
ments in the Chamber of Deputies on Feb
ruary II, 1895 :
' We must before all safeguard the priceless
treasures acquired by man in spite of so
many prejudices, sufferings and combats. These
treasures consist in the realisation of certain
principles, namely that there is no such thing as
revealed or sacred truth; that all truth which
does not spring from man is but error; that
even when we give our adhesion to certain
principles, our critical faculty must always be
on the alert. Further, that a certain aggressive
mental attitude should underlie all that we think
and affirm, that even though our ideal of God
should take shape or if God were to manifest
Himself to men under a tangible form, our first
duty would be to refuse Him our obedience, to
treat Him as an equal with whom we discuss,
not as a master to whom we submit."
And God sees all that: He hears all that!
For whom do they take God ? In vain do men
assert that God is nothing, in vain do they stand
forth and shake their fists at the sun and declare
" You don't exist." The sun still shines in the
heavens, and God still counts.
Vile degraded men who insult God and deny
His very existence, who leave Him on one side,
are powerless to injure the Most High. Those
5°
WET REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
who deny and insult must remain here below.
Heaven is inaccessible to them. Earth, alas !
is not and are we sure that these insults rising
from our midst will not fall back in punishments
upon us ?
God is God; all those who would put out the
stars and deny the supernatural are powerless ;
they cannot get rid of Him.
God exists — eternally. He, too, has His rights.
God will not suffer man to treat Him as an
outcast with impunity, as one who can be over
looked or got rid of; as one who can be disposed
of by an eloquent discourse, a vote, or a stroke
of the pen.
But if we cannot find enough volunteers to
counterbalance all these insults, what may we
not expect ?
In Claudel's Annonce faite a Marie we find
the subjoined passage: Anne Vercors, a farmer's
wife of Combernon in the time of Joan of Arc,
announces her intention of going to Jerusalem.
THE MOTHER : What ! you are going away ?
For good ? And where are you going ?
ANNE (pointing vaguely towards the south):
Yonder.
THE MOTHER: To Chateau.
ANNE: Farther than Chateau.
THE MOTHER (in a low voice) : To Bourges, to
see the other king ?
ANNE: I am going to the home of the King of
Kings, to Jerusalem.
51
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
THE MOTHER: Good heavens ! Is not France
good enough for you ?
ANNE: There is too much sorrow in France.
" Too much sorrow in France !" Yes, in
very truth !
In the time of Abraham, two cities would
have been spared if only ten just men had been
found. And how greatly we need just men, how
many more of them !
The Rev. Matheo Crawley, the well-known
Peruvian missionary who has travelled all over
France, has truly said, " For every social evil, I
have found not simply one work of reparation,
but a whole series of them."
If these good works are to flourish, we must
have many, many souls of good will, souls eager
to adopt a mode of life like that so aptly set forth
in the subjoined passage:
" We must give up certain satisfactions and
practise mortification because others are suffer
ing, and do these things with the greatest sym
pathy, because we feel drawn to share their
sufferings. We must deprive ourselves likewise
of certain pleasures, because others indulge in
them to excess. In this case, we wish to ransom
or compensate for their immoderation. So far
as our position and powers allow, we try to
maintain a certain level in the life of men."
Send us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, many of the
just to make compensation for their brethren.
May it please Thee to send us not merely faithful
souls of the rank and file, but generous souls
52
WET REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
pledged to pay by their loyalty the ransom
which Thy justice has asked for so long. Suffer
ing alone will not suffice: we need suffering
welcomed — devoid et 'pcenitens — loving and peni
tent suffering. There are other urgent needs
but these are the most imperative.
But do yet more, dear Lord, raise up souls who,
not content merely to accept suffering, seek and
desire it as a means of restraining the power of
evil. These are the souls who make reparation
to the uttermost.
Cardinal Manning wrote: " We do not live in
the age of martyrs (but, who knows ?), but in
an age when each must have the will of a
martyr."
In a book written before the War, Daniel, the
hero of the story, makes an excellent retort,
which is likewise a rebuke, to a worldly young
priest who was quoting with satisfaction the
words of a bishop in China, who had witnessed
many martyrdoms and speaking of them, said:
" In my young days, I longed for martyrdom,
but I do not want it now."
Daniel replied : " Let me tell you that if there
are in France a thousand Christians, a hundred,
or even twenty ready to suffer in their bodies
the stigmata of the Passion, these alone are the
true disciples of Christ and you may recognise
them by their readiness to shed their blood
joyfully. The earth on which we stand has
drunk in their blood greedily, it was the blood of
Sanctinus, of Blandina and of Irenaeus. If France
S3
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
is to be born again, our blood too must be poured
out.'
Yes " our blood too must be poured out."
Not perhaps on the battlefield or in the arena,
but it must be shed drop by drop in our daily
striving after holiness, and for the restoration of
humanity in Christ. It must be given drop by
drop by the daily sacrifices — often so trivial and
yet meritorious — of an existence spent wholly
for God.
The most faithful of these zealous souls give
all to God, making the complete sacrifice of their
self-love with all its manifold reservations, of
their most cherished attachments, of their most
legitimate pleasures and joys. They give all for
the joy of seeing God at last known, loved and
served as He merits.
54
PART II
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
CHAPTER I
CHRISTIANS AND REPARATION
THE obligation of perfecting or filling up
the mission of Christ, and consequently His
Passion, falls more especially upon those
who are called by God to consecrate their
lives to Him, but we cannot draw the conclusion
that the ordinary Christian has no part in this
noble work. On the contrary, each of the faithful
both can and ought to assist and, in the measure
of his generosity, enter the ranks of those conse
crated to Reparation.
The first reason for this, and one which should
appeal even to tepid Christians, is their own
personal interest. We all know the laws of Divine
justice. We know that as surely as God exists
and cannot cease to exist, so surely crime will
not ultimately triumph, but, sooner or later,
sin will meet with its due punishment. God
punishes sin sometimes upon this earth, but
not often. He mercifully delays avenging sin
in this world. After all, if man persists in his
evil-doing, God can satisfy His justice in eternity.
But peoples and nations, as such, have but a
terrestrial existence and consequently must pay
55
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
the penalty of their evil deeds in this world.
Their punishment here in some form or other is
inevitable. This truth is strikingly exemplified
in the history of the Old Covenant. Listen
to the words of Jehovah addressed to the per
verse Hebrews by the prophet Jeremias:
"The Lord said to me: Behold I will call
together all the families of the north . . . and
they shall come, and shall set every one his throne
in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem and
upon all the walls round about and upon all the
cities of Juda. And I will pronounce My judg
ments against them, touching all their wicked
ness, who have forsaken Me . . . and have
adored the work of their own hands " (i. 15).
Farther on we read: " Behold I will bring
upon you a nation from afar ... a strong
nation . . . whose language thou shalt not know,
nor understand what they say. Their quiver is
as an open sepulchre : they are all valiant. And
they shall eat up thy corn and thy bread: they
shall devour thy sons and thy daughters : they
shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds : they shall
eat thy vineyards and thy figs. With the sword
they shall destroy thy strong cities, wherein
thou trustest " (v. 15).
Note that God often makes use of a wicked
nation — as we learn from the history of the Israel
ites — to give a salutary admonition or fulfil a
glorious mission. Nor need we confine ourselves
to past history; the present age provides us with
striking parallels.
56
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
Undoubtedly, we cannot apply this law to any
one particular case : we cannot assert as a positive
fact that Napoleon's exile and death in St. Helena
was the expiation of his deeds at Savona and
Fontainebleau, because the general law is one
thing and its particular application another; and
this general law is as follows : All crime must
be avenged and God necessarily must triumph
ultimately.
It is possible, looking at the Great War from
one point of view, to assert — without committing
ourselves to any paradox — that it was an act of
mercy on God's part. On the other hand, it
better fits in with the facts to look upon it as
a punishment from God, as an act of Divine
justice. But men, blinded by pride, refuse to
admit this explanation.
A soldier wrote as follows: " On all sides,
agricultural implements, pierced with bullets, lie
rusting on the ground. Tombs with their crosses
are seen everywhere, in the middle of farm-yards,
in clumps of bushes, under trees. Tell me, is it
not terrible to look upon this vengeance of the
Cross ? When shall we understand it ?"
All who have gazed upon the innumerable
cemeteries and thousands of tombs on the battle
fields have felt this truth come home to them :
" Men had banished the cross from their public
monuments, their Courts of Justice, their schools
and highways. Yet behold, the simple wooden
cross is seen on all sides in the woods, along our
highways, even in the midst of our gardens."
57
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
What were men so eagerly seeking formerly ?
What, alas ! are they still too often seeking ?
Pleasure and enjoyment. Even in so many so-
called Christian families, what licence is tolerated !
What contempt there is for the most stringent
laws of God touching the sanctity of wedlock,
the observance of the Sabbath and due respect
for the good of our neighbours. All modern life is
planned out with the view of escaping from suffer
ing and from the inconvenience of complying with
the binding precepts of God and of the Church.
Meanwhile, suffering bides its time, it prepares
its revenge. Its hour came in August, 1914,
when the War broke out. What anguish fol
lowed: there were separations, last farewells,
constant anxieties. Weeks and months passed.
Then news came: the loved one was wounded,
a prisoner, or missing, or even worse than all
these ! Poor suffering creatures ! What a
capacity for pain there is in the heart of man !
None but those who were in the fighting line
or on the vast fields of battle can imagine the
amount of anguish, the multitude of sufferings
that were crowded into certain hours, days, or
even months of such an existence.
So much for the past, but what of the future ?
What remains of so many human joys, happy
homes and fair fortunes built up with such
labour and trouble ? Can we remain untouched
by the sad vistas that open out and the inevit
able sorrows that are foreshadowed ?
Can we do nothing to remedy this ? Yes,
58
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
we can do a great deal. During the War, there
were three great Armies — one to fight, one to
nurse, and one to pray.
The army that fought paid its tribute to our
country. It gave one million three hundred
thousand lives. To their deaths, we owe our lives.
The army of nurses showed boundless devotion.
But perhaps the most powerful army, the one
that most contributed to the victory, was the
army of prayer and sacrifice, and to this belonged
many of the soldiers of the two former.
St. Joan of Arc's words express a constant
truth: "The hands that grasp the pike gain
fewer battles than the hands lifted up in prayer."
A grave writer has said : " The inexplicable
victory of the Marne was perhaps won by the
humble prayer of a little child. ... See that
poor girl praying in some ruined sanctuary.
She knows one truth, that God ever hears our
prayers, since He has promised to answer the
petitions of those who trust in Him. Listen,
it is night and you hear the endless rumbling of
an army on the march — infantry, cavalry, and
impedimenta. All this noise comes from the
prayer of an innocent girl whom God will surely
obey."
These supernatural influences certainly played
a great part in the history of the War, between
1914 and 1919. What will be their share in
coming events ? As great and as glorious as
we choose to make it.
It is only too manifest that society is in the
59
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
throes of a vast upheaval. Agitation prevails
everywhere. Even more than in the past, the
world has need of souls who are ready to ward
off God's anger. Uneasiness and wild rumours
predominate, convulsions rumble in the distance.
Would that we knew to what an extent we have
it in our power to bring the Divine action into
the sphere of our human history ! For this, it is
not necessary to give up natural means; we have
to use them, but we must teach Christians — even
those who have little faith in supernatural helps —
that these play their part in modifying the course
of human events.
He is powerful who acts upon the First Cause
of all that is. Now the First Cause of all, in this
world's history, cannot be nothing.
When St. Louis was setting forth on his
crusade a violent storm arose. The saintly king
knelt for some time in prayer, then rising calmly,
he assured his companions that the flotilla would
make the voyage in safety. " How do you know
that ?" they asked. " Because," replied the
king, " my monks of Clairvaux are praying and
doing penance, so all will be well with us."
A few years ago someone asked one of the
bishops of China which was the best means of
obtaining the conversion of that immense Empire.
" We must have some more Carmelites and some
Trappists," replied the bishop.
Such means might seem totally inadequate for
the required purpose, but we cannot go against
the truth. What then is the truth ? Well, think
60
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
what ruins souls — Sin. What saves nations ?
Holiness, and the two essential elements of holiness
are prayer and penance.
From this follow two conclusions. First, we
have to ask ourselves whether in our own lives
in any degree, however small, we have ever con
tributed to bring about the state of things which
we deplore so much. In certain Eastern coun
tries, when a man has been murdered, the corpse
is placed in some public place, and each citizen
has to come forward in turn and, placing his
hand upon the dead body, swear that he is
innocent of the crime.
In presence of our country in such dire distress,
we must not imitate Pilate and declare, as he
did when judging our Lord, that we are in no way
to blame for these evils. Can we say how far the
effect of our sins may have reached ? Had there
been more just men in Sodom and Gomorrah,
these two cities would not have perished by fire.
Let us keep from sin. " What overturns
nations? Sin." (Quod ever tit nationes? Peccatum.)
(Prov. xiv. 34.) It is the sins of individuals
which draw down misfortunes upon the people,
far oftener than we imagine.
One single mortal sin in itself is sufficient to
cause God to send some great calamity upon the
earth. Very few understand this, and yet it
must be said. For what is mortal sin ? It
consists in deliberately putting a creature in
place of God, in ignoring Him, in desiring to
do away with Him were such a thing possible.
61
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
Now of itself the annihilation of all that is
finite could never make adequate reparation for
an insult offered to the Infinite Being. These
are the exact data of the problem, and whatever
decisions men promulgate or accusations of
cruelty they bring against God, the problem
remains as before.
How many useful lessons w • might learn even
in our generation from the ^sc;ry of the chosen
people of God, if indeed the men of our age
could still take any interest in the subject.
Take the subjoined example: When the army
of Israel marched against Jericho, one of the
soldiers was guilty of a great fault. God had
said all the booty was to be reserved for " the
treasury of the Lord " — i.e.^ for sacred purposes.
Disobeying this command, Achan, an Israelite,
took from the spoils " a scarlet garment, exceed
ing good, two hundred sides of silver and a golden
rule of fifty sides . . . and hid them in the
ground" (Josh. vii. 21). The army of Israel
were defeated. Someone had disobeyed the
Lord. The Lord of hosts left Israel to himself.
The transgressor had to confess his sin and expiate
it. " Then," said the Lord to the Israelites,
" ye have won the day " — not, ye shall win, but,
" now ye have won the day." And in fact the
Israelites then and there destroyed their foes.
Thank God, however, that under the New
Law He does not often punish the masses for the
crimes of individual persons. But, nevertheless,
God can do so if He wills and in so doing He
62
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
acts with perfect justice, since all the temporal
punishments collectively cannot compensate for
one mortal sin seeing that there cannot be
any approximation between the finite and
the Infinite. Yet God, in His mercy, permits
that sufferings inflicted by Him or voluntarily
self-imposed by the Christian shall have the
power of expiating faults. As our Lord said
to St. Margaret Mary: "One just soul can
obtain the pardon of a thousand sinners."
In this way, without infringing on the rights of
justice, God is able to exercise His mercy super
abundantly. He frequently asks us to co-operate
with Him to our utmost, so as to provide oppor
tunities for Him to show His infinite mercy.
Our duty, then, is clearly marked out. We
must not be scandalised, perhaps to the point of
blasphemy, by occurrences that upset or distress
us, as if we were amongst the pagans of to-day;
we must not imitate the pharisaically faultless and
self-righteous critics around us, who reject every
explanation of historical events that accepts
the principle of expiation. On the contrary,
we must realise what sin really means and, in
future, avoid it as the greatest evil whether for
individuals or nations. It does not, of course,
follow that given two nations, the most prosperous
is necessarily the most holy, but the truth remains
that theoretically — if not always practically — a
mortal sin can bring the greatest calamity upon
the world and, if we have any care for the well-
being of society, our first duty is to lead a good
63
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
life and avoid those deeds which God, in His
justice, cannot do otherwise than punish.
We should do well to meditate on what
Newman writes on this question; in the light
of what we have just said, there is no fear of
our mistaking his meaning:
" Let us not conclude that God makes use of
other punishments to-day (than of old) because
we do not see His direct action. The principal
difference between the punishments inflicted by
God on the Israelites and on Christians, is that
the former were visible, the latter invisible—
that is, we do not perceive these evils to-day as
the chastisements of God, because God Himself
or His chosen prophets no longer tell us this
explicitly; but the effects of God's anger are
no less real, and are even more terrible, seeing
that they are proportioned to the greatness of
the privileges which we have abused."
The task set before all Christians is not, how
ever, purely negative. Each one, who desires
to remedy or prevent sin, must place some
counterpoise in the scale of God's justice. Alas !
how many sins are committed in our land !
For these, we must offer an ample measure of
fidelity to prayer, acceptation of suffering and
progress in holiness. Hence every Christian
should make Reparation, from a motive of self-
interest. If he evades this obligation, the whole
Christian body, all civilised society, an entire
nation, may have to expiate his want of foresight
or sinful indifference.
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
But there is another and a nobler motive; not
that of interest but love.
Is it possible to see God so insulted without
feeling impelled to make Him some compensa
tion ? Can we look on and see Christ our Lord,
our Head, mocked at and treated as an outlaw
without a feeling of indignation, of regret, or
of deeper love for His cause ? It is true that,
from the days of His Agony in Gethsemani and
His Crucifixion, He is accustomed to have but
few of His disciples with Him — but, even so,
cannot we be of that number ? Where is the
faith, where are the noble sentiments that should
animate the souls of baptised Catholics ? Will
none come forward to mitigate His sufferings ?
Will none try to comfort the Church in her
grief ? Are there only priests and religious who
can realise what suffering costs and how much
misery afflicts men ?
" Look around you and tell me whether the
world is governed by the Spirit of God who
created it, or by the spirit of Satan, the world's
idol and destroyer ? We must make Reparation
for all those who, though baptised by water
and the Holy Ghost, have nevertheless sinned
against Him. Yet we remain all the time indo
lent and inactive " (Manning).
The Holy Spirit is betrayed every hour of the
day. Are there none willing to make Reparation ?
We see the Church of Christ continually
attacked, now openly and shamelessly, now
secretly and cunningly. Are we always going
65 E
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
to remain inactive ? During the battle of Eylau,
Napoleon, seeing himself very closely surrounded
by the enemy, called out to Murat : " Don't you
see they are gaining ground ? Will you let the
fellows swallow us alive ?"
If we can remain so indifferent, it is because
we do not love our Mother, the Church. The
term " Mother " is an empty sound, a mere
mockery. Shall we suffer our Mother to be
insulted with impunity ? Formerly, if anyone
had grieved our human mother, should we
not have striven to make amends to her by
increased tenderness ?
Mgr. d'Hulst writes : " We need in the world
devout souls who love God and are desirous
of making Reparation and of doing it without
stirring up the resentment or curiosity of their
neighbours by their choice of means." Thanks
be to God, there are some, more perhaps than
we think.
It is related that a poor peasant woman was
nursing her dying son. Presently, the young
man, half- opening his eyes, exclaimed: " Mother,
S*ve me some water, I am dying of thirst."
t this moment the clock struck three. The
Christian mother took a crucifix and, placing it
in her son's hand in a voice broken by tears, said
to him : " My dearest child, it is the hour when
Jesus too was tormented by thirst and died for
you upon the Cross. Won't you endure a little
thirst to be like Him ?" " Yes, mother," replied
the young man and, putting the crucifix to his
66
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
lips, he kissed it tenderly. Unconsciously these
two, mother and son, were animated with the
sentiments of St. Francis of Assisi when he ex
claimed: "What, Thou, my Saviour, art nailed
to the Cross, and I am not nailed to it !" Their
generosity puts these two among those " good
Christians " of whom the saintly Cure of Ars
once said: "Worldlings complain dolefully of
having crosses ; good Christians grieve when they
have none " — amongst those who have under
stood what Fenelon calls " the great mystery of
Christianity, that is the crucifixion of man " in
union with the crucifixion of Christ.
True love ever begets imitation: this is the
unequivocal mark of its genuineness. We subjoin
a few examples.
Eugene Courtois, a member of the " Associa
tion Catholique de la Jeunesse Franchise," was
killed in the September offensive of 1915. He
was an honest workman, who had been converted
by the example and influence of his dying brother.
He practised great austerities, rising very early
in order to receive Holy Communion daily,
sleeping upon a wooden cross which he placed
each night in his bed even when he had a deep
wound in his feet, nor would he have his wound
attended to, because he desired to suffer. He
devoted himself to tending the sick, whose
ailments were most repulsive. He was never
happy except when suffering, and frequently
complained that his food was too good and that
he had not enough privations.
67
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
Lucile X., when quite a child, happened to
read the life of Soeur Celine de la Presentation,
who died in the Convent of the Ave Maria at
Talence. Lucile resolved to imitate her by
giving herself up to a life of Reparation. She
attended a Mission at Maubeuge, which strength
ened her resolution. In December, 1902, she
made her first Communion and four years later
wrote thus in her spiritual not e-book: " Jesus, I
offer Thee the sacrifice of my life for my beloved
country. . . . Make me suffer that I may
expiate the crimes of France." In her piety and
ardour all is genuine and practical. She writes:
" Self-renunciation consists in doing my duty,
no matter what it costs me and without troubling
in the least as to what I prefer. If I have a
choice of two things, I will choose the most
mortifying and will sacrifice my inclinations and
do what others wish. I will never show any
preference for a given thing nor use the words
' I prefer.' "
What wisdom this girl shows; how she under
stood true self-renunciation ! She knew herself
well when she said to God: "Send me suffer
ing. Do not listen if I murmur when Thou
answerest my prayer. O Jesus, do not cease
to send me suffering: I give myself wholly
to Thee." The Divine Master ceased to send
her trials when He called her home to Him on
May 29, 1907.
The Cure of Ars used to say: " A Christian
lives amidst crosses like a fish in the water."
68
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
Yes, provided he seriously follows the teaching
and example of His Master.
Madame Elizabeth of France in the prison of
the Temple prayed thus : " My God, I accept
all, I will what Thou wiliest, I sacrifice all to
Thee, uniting it with the Sacrifice of my
Saviour." General de Sonis prayed: " Let me
be crucified, Lord, but by Thee." In the terrible
fire that broke out in Paris in the Convent of the
Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul, where a bazaar
for their works was in progress, many fell victims
to the flames. Among them was a young girl
of twenty. In her half- burnt not e-book, found
on her dead body, were written these words:
" O Jesus, I offer Thee my life as a ransom."
Little Bernadette Dupont asked God at her
first Communion that she might become a
religious and die a martyr. God did not answer
the first petition, but accorded her the second.
She died at the age of fifteen, after a painful
illness of nearly three years.
Here is an example of a commanding officer.
He was a Breton of noble birth. At one time
he had almost decided to give up his military
career, rather than sacrifice his faith. War
broke out and he resolved to pursue it. Not
content to remain in charge of home defence
merely, he asked to go on active service. Passing
by Domremy he visited the sanctuary of St. Joan
of Arc, where he uttered this generous prayer:
" I offer my life as a ransom for so many young
men who are not guilty of the sins of their
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
fathers." He felt that his offer was accepted
by God. When placed with the third battalion
of Zouaves, on starting out, he said to one of
his companions : " The greatest honour of my
life will be to suffer for my country." A few
weeks after, he fell on the battlefield. The
parish priest, his intimate friend, read the sub
joined extracts from this brave soldier's letter:
" Does not our beloved country need voluntary
victims, ready to offer themselves as holocausts
for her ransom ? If only God would accept
me as a victim of expiation, as a ransom for our
land, how gladly would I give my life for the
sacred cause of Reparation." " After having
seriously considered the matter and prayed
earnestly, in spite of the sentiment of my utter
unworthiness, I have ventured to offer myself."
" I do not know if, in spite of my faults, God
will judge me worthy. But should He mean to
hear my prayer, I thank Him in anticipation for
all His kindness and indulgence."
Mirabilis Deus in sanctis suis. It is indeed
admirable what God can effect with such a
wretched thing as the heart of man. Let us
admire it and, at the same time, try to under
stand it. Many know nothing of such heroic
acts: those who perform them, generally speak
ing, do not realise their own heroism. There
are different degrees of generosity and greatness
in these deeds, ranging from the most glorious
to the most humble (which are not always the
70
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
least meritorious). Those who have heard of
these voluntary victims know that there are
more than we might imagine. Doubtless, speci
ally privileged souls retain their high place and
are consequently not numerous, but, as the ex
amples just cited prove, God has chosen souls
even in the world and among those who live an
active life.
We have already given Father Matheo
Crawley's testimony to the religious vitality in
France. We will now give another quotation
from his works :
" The generation of Christians, ready for
daily sacrifices and even the greatest, that of their
lives, is still in existence. We must not look
upon it as a thing of the past. In the great
centres and in the villages, I myself have come
in contact with chosen souls, whose moral beauty
was absolutely surprising. But they must be
sought for. Like the hidden springs of water,
they work secretly and silently. Their hidden
virtues spread fertility all round. Everywhere,
in every rank of society, among those in high
position, among influential men as well as among
the obscure and humble workers, God has His
chosen souls.
" Whence do these priceless souls spring ?
They are the drops of blood of a noble race, the
voice of the living traditions of the old Catholic
stock, the moral wealth of an organism that is
steeped in the purest and most virile Christi
anity. It is of this wheat that God has kneaded
71
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
the reparatory victims (nostras reparatrices) of
France."
It devolves upon us to cherish and guard these
chosen grains of the purest wheat. If God has
inspired us with the germ of generous desires,
let us beware of the indifference that environs us.
If we would be ready to suffer, we must love God.
Is this so difficult ?
On the 25th of Ventose (the sixth month of
the first Republican calendar), 1794, one of the
judges of a revolutionary tribunal asked a saintly
young girl — Marguerite de Pons : " What are
your religious views ?" to which she answered
simply: " I love God with all my heart."
And who cannot make the same reply ? Loving
God with all our heart — that is equipment
enough for starting on the work of reparation.
That, too, is enough to keep us carrying it on
successfully to the end.
72
CHAPTER II
RELIGIOUS AND REPARATION
" F | iHERE are in the world some roads with
never-to-be-forgotten names."*
One is the Regina Viarum, " the Queen
of roads." Through Capua, Benevento,
Brindisi and the Ionian Sea, it put Rome in com
munication with Greece and linked together the
two poles of the world. It was the highway of
artists and poets.
Another is the Via sacra. It skirted the
Palatine, crossed the Forum and led up to the
Capitol. It was the conquerors' road.
There is a third, the Via dolorosa. It starts
from the citadel of Antonia — Pilate's residence,
in Jerusalem — and runs by the houses of Annas
and Caiaphas to the top of Calvary. This was
the way followed by our Saviour, and still trodden
by all who wish to walk in the footsteps of the
Crucified — the Sorrowful Way, or in the words
of the Imitation, the Royal Way: "The Royal
Road of the Cross."
Is not the essence of all religious vocation a
call to unite with Jesus Christ in a special way ?
By sanctifying grace alone God admits us to a
marvellous intimacy, and we possess God in our
souls. But if the title of " Spouse " can be
* H. Reverdy, U absence et le souvenir dans la guerre.
73
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
applied strictly speaking to God, living in every
one of the baptised, how much deeper is its
signification when the soul is not merely engaged
in the way of the commandments, but is chosen
and marked out from all eternity for His special
service, and is set apart by Him from the begin
ning, selected, attracted, and consecrated by
Him.
Marriage consists in mutual engagements and
the placing of the ring on the finger. Baptism
can truly be called a marriage, since it consists
of the union of God and the soul, but the term
means far more when we refer it to Religious,
those souls of predilection with whom God is
so intimately united in virtue of their vow of
chastity.
It is part of the essential condition of the
state of matrimony that husband and wife form
but one. They share together all their pro
jects, joys, perplexities, anxieties, sufferings and
trials. Their hearts are united and beat in
unison.
If a Religious is in earnest, if the soul is truly
the Spouse of Christ, this will be her prayer :
" Love for love, life for life, blood for blood,
offering for offering: all is one between us. Thou
canst no longer suffer, but Thou hast confided
Thy mission to me, and with my whole strength
I devote myself to this work. In order to make
Reparation to Thee and to assist Thee in saving
the souls for whom Thou didst offer Thyself,
I will suffer for those who live for pleasure; I
74
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
will love for those who blaspheme; I will be
humble for the proud; weep for sinners who
laugh, and give Thee my whole soul for those
who reject Thee.
" I hear Thy complaint; I hear Thee say:
' My love is unrecognised and persecuted. I
seek a place of repose and I have chosen thy
heart.' Like Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity
I will ' offer Thee a dwelling, a shelter in my soul,
and there my love shall make Thee forget all the
insults and outrages of sinners.' 1 know that
in my soul in the inward c temple ' of Thy
grace Thou wouldst see an altar of sacrifice for Thy
divine transformations set up. I will offer Thee
the matter of the sacrifice, which by Thy Divine
presence and power, Thou wilt transform and
divinise. Thou, in me, wilt offer Thyself to the
Father and Thou wilt offer all without consulting
me. Do not heed my repugnances nor resist
ance, suppress pitilessly whatever hinders Thy
designs. Must I not ' be made perfect in one '
in order to work efficaciously for all to be united
with Thee ? If Thou art not wholly in me,
how canst Thou be my All- in- All ?
" Dear Master, long ago, by holy Baptism,
I received grace and Thou didst take possession
of my soul. Henceforth, I possess Thee more
intimately by my vows. Thou, by Thy power,
wilt destroy in me all that is not Thyself. I
yield up all my faculties to Thee. From now
my path in the future is clearly traced out. My
one aim shall be to repair the outrages committed
75
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
against Thee by so many ungrateful sinners.
In the rags of my spiritual poverty I will strive
to devote myself to Thy service, and though
a poor substitute for Veronica, I have but a
worn veil and an unworthy heart, I will pass my
life consoling Thee in Thy sadness, and binding
up Thy wounds. I hold tightly the crucifix of
my vows, of our reciprocal engagements. With
Thy permission, I put my lips to Thy Sacred
Wounds.
" I kiss the wounds in Thy hands as a Reparation
for those who do wrong; I kiss Thy forehead,
pierced by the thorns, as an atonement for
sinners who think not of Thee, or only remember
Thee that they may outrage Thee. I kiss the
Wound of Thy Heart to atone for those who
hate Thee and love evil.
" I would fain do more, for the truly devoted
souls do more than say ' Lord, Lord !' I long
to prove my generosity by my acts, by imprinting
upon my life, if not upon my body, the sacred
stigmata of Thy Passion.
" Assuredly, what I offer Thee is but little
and insignificant. Yet one thought consoles me.
It needs so little flour to make an altar bread,
only a few crushed grains. I will resemble that
altar bread which will become the consecrated
Host. To remind me of its littleness, I will
adopt as motto: ' He must increase, and I must
decrease.' To imitate its whiteness, my ideal
shall be the purity of the Angels, and in imitation
of its immobility — for the Host is carried or
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
placed as the priest wills — I will obey unquestion-
ingly and instantly."
Such is the general outline of the spirit of
sacrifice of a fervent Religious. The consecrated
life in itself presupposes the acceptance of a
crucified life, but some chosen souls, desiring
to go further than their Rule obliges, aim at a
life of continual and great suffering — the greatest
possible. The desire of constant, radical and
unceasing immolation in all their actions is their
ruling thought.
We have numerous examples of fervent Chris
tians, who have given themselves to God without
measure both in the world and in the cloister.
They have responded to a very special call from
God. But, leaving on one side these individual
calls to Reparation, and speaking of Religious
Life as a whole, we assert that every religious
vocation is necessarily a vocation for Reparation.
It is so of its very nature, whether considered
in general or in detail.
All around we see more and more spiritual
ruins, and labourers needed to restore them all.
Many Christians murmur : " Yes, someone should
attend to this, but why should I trouble ?"
Others, though few, humbly and yet resolutely
say : " Yes, someone should attend to it. Why
not I ?" They start at once. They enter
Religion, inspired by the desire to make Repara
tion ?
Such souls are energetic, they go ahead, in
spite of obstacles. Although friends strive to
77
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
keep them back, they enter Religion. Magis'Ur
adest et vocal te. They have heard His call and
they obey. What matters if they have to re
nounce the most sacred ties ? With God's help,
they are prepared to break them. St. Joan of
Arc used to say: " If I had a hundred fathers
and mothers, I would leave them." All aspir
ants to religious life re-echo her words. " A
hundred mothers " ! How hard it is to leave
one at such times ! Yet in spite of all, they make
the sacrifice. A firm determination does not
prevent their suffering acutely.
" What are you taking with you into the
Convent ?" " Nothing. Oh yes, a dozen
handkerchiefs to weep to my heart's content."
Just then one clings to the merest trifles, and
yet goes on.
One says : " I must be off to the King." This
is the last word of all who have heard the Divine
call: " Go, child of God, go forth," and to whom
God gives the courage to respond.
The world knows nothing, sees nothing in
such heroism. If it condescends to make any
comment, it mutters: " Lunacy !"
" Lunacy !" Well, yes, we accept the im
peachment. On one occasion, Abbe Gayraud,
then deputy for Finistere, was defending the
Religious Congregations in the French Chamber;
the question of their expulsion was being dis
cussed and the Abbe was praising Religious and
pointing out what greatness of soul it required
to renounce the world, act as lightning-conductors
78
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
for the anger of God and lead a life of self-
immolation in union with Jesus Christ. The
orator spoke of the Brothers of St. John of God
who devote themselves to the service of the
insane, of the Little Sisters of the Poor, whose
food consists of what is left from the table of the
old people they tend, and who, with them, live
on what they beg from door to door.
A deputy of the Left, extremely anti-Catholic,
exclaimed impatiently: " They are all lunatics !"
" Yes, Monsieur Allemane," quickly retorted
the Abbe, drawing himself up to his full
height, the better to mark the moral littleness
of his interlocutor. " Yes, they are lunatics.
Their madness was diagnosed centuries ago by
St. Paul as ' the folly ' of the Cross."*
After all, the logic of reason and of faith
blended with the logic of the heart seems mad
ness or folly to the world. Yes, folly there is,
but not where the world thinks.
The folly of the Cross !
All who are victims of this madness have seen
their crucified Saviour passing by. He looked so
sad and suffering. They heard His voice mur
muring, " Follow Me." Instantly they felt im
pelled to give themselves to Him alone, to conse
crate to Him their hearts, their youthful vigour,
all their affections, all their love. Nor did this
suffice; they longed to give themselves wholly
and for ever to do His will; they desired to suffer
with Him and offered to follow Him whither-
* Folie in French means " madness " as well as " folly."
79
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
soever He should go, not only to Bethania>
Thabor and the Cenacle — that would be simple
enough — but even to the Garden of Olives;
to the Praetorium, where Pilate points Him
out to the rabble, saying, " Ecce Homo "; even to
the pillar of the scourging, where He is tortured
and insulted till they reach the Cross on which
He bleeds to death for the expiation of our sins.
Even to the Cross ! They had often gazed
at it, but never understood it. Custom prevents
one from noticing. But now for once the Cross
appears quite different, be it the roughly hewn
crucifix of the roadside or the elegant crucifix
hanging over the bed. For the first time one
realises the true meaning of our Lord's words
to Blessed Angela of Foligno : " My love for thee
is not in play !" Not in play indeed ! And one
thinks : " There was a cross, a real cross of wood on
a mountain, that showed it once. What a day
was that ! Besides all the crosses on which dead
Christs hang, there was once a Cross, on which
the living Jesus hung bleeding, till He died on
it for me, for all men." And thinking of Jerusa
lem and its blasphemy and ignorance — of the
indifference and hatred of the world — one says:
" How plain it is that if Jesus were to return to
earth, He would be crucified again and even
more quickly than before."
No sooner have we better understood the
Passion of Christ and the world's hatred of Him
than we see that life is altered. We repeat with
Pascal: " Jesus Christ will be in an agony until
80
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
the end of the world, and during this time we
must not sleep."
Sleep forsooth ! It ill befits us to sleep when
the Divine Master is hanging suffering upon His
Cross. Alas ! for how many His Passion is of no
avail !
When David asked Urias, who had* just come
from the battle-field, why he had not gone home
to sleep, he answered : " My Lord, Joab sleeps
in a tent, and am I to lie down in a palace ?"
After seeing Christ crucified dare we shirk the cross ?
To one, who applied for admission into a
Carmelite convent, the superioress gave a vivid
description of the austerity of the life behind the
iron grill. " Is there a crucifix in each cell ?"
asked the future postulant. " Yes." " Very
well, Mother, the rest does not matter; nothing
will be too hard." The Saints thought thus.
When St. Philip Neri was dying from sheer
exhaustion the doctor ordered him to take beef
tea to recruit his strength. They brought it
to him and he began to drink it. Presently he
left off abruptly, and exclaimed : " Oh, my Jesus !
what a difference between me and Thee ! Thou
wert nailed to the hard wood of the Cross and
I am on a comfortable bed. They gave Thee
vinegar and gall to drink and I have delicacies.
Thou wert surrounded by enemies who insulted
Thee and I have kind friends around me, who
strive to console me." The contrast made the
Saint weep so much that he could not take any
more broth, although he was in such need of it.
81 F
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
Wherein lies the great secret of all attraction to
a life of Reparation, such as is led by Religious ?
In the fact that Jesus was crucified and they
embrace the Cross. He suffered, therefore they
desire to suffer. Jesus was buffeted and there
fore they wish to be despised, ignored, forgotten
and even persecuted.
In one of our Lord's apparitions to St. Margaret
Mary, He showed her two portraits of Himself.
The one represented Him in His Passion, the other
in glory. " Which wilt thou choose ?" He asked
her. Without hesitation she stretched out her
arms to the one representing Him in His suffer
ings. Yet at the beginning of her Religious Life
this Saint had endeavoured to lead a holy life
without any suffering. She had carefully sought
for a Saint who had not mortified himself and
was finally convinced that such a one did not
exist.
In the life of the Comtesse d'Hoogworst,
Emilie d'Oultremont, foundress of the Institute
of Marie Reparatrice, we read of her having a
vision, similar to that seen by St. Margaret Mary.
When in Rome in 1843 Jesus showed her His
Sacred Heart. She says He came to her holding
out two crowns, one of roses, the other of thorns.
Without speaking or hearing one word she
instantly grasped the crown of thorns " with all
the love of her heart " as she tells us, adding :
" After that I always loved the crown of thorns."
Marie Deluil-Martiny, foundress of the " Filles
du Cceur de Jesus," used to say: " If God gave
82
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
me the choice, I should prefer the Cross without
consolation to consolation without the Cross."
How can we explain this strange inclination,
this unnatural attraction and inexplicable prefer
ence ? We must attribute them to souls having
discovered, more or less explicitly, that suffering
alone can unite them to Him, who is their All.
As regards all else, the distance is too great, for on
His side there is Infinity, on theirs, nothingness;
on His, unspeakable riches; on theirs, unutterable
poverty. They could not contend with Him.
Where, then, could they find something in com
mon ? In this : He has suffered ; they can suffer.
In all else, He is infinitely above them, for is
He not God ? But by their suffering they can
walk writh Him, the Sufferer. On this plane
they can meet their God. The road by which
He came to them is the road by which they can go
to Him. The distance between God and the soul
decreases. There is something similar in their
lives, and God and the human soul, so different
for all else, here have a certain resemblance.
The " suffering " soul becomes for God " a
helper like unto Himself," one less unworthy
henceforth of His choice, His favours and His
embrace.
The biographer of St. Lydwine remarks, that
within given limits all Christ's devoted servants
are called by Him to the work of expiation.
Some, it is true, have a vocation that is not
directly connected with it, since their special
mission is to convert sinners, regenerate mon-
83
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
asteries, preach the Gospel to the poor, or they
have some secret charge, known to God alone.
Yet all these, notwithstanding, are asked to
contribute their share of suffering to the common
treasury of the Church; all have to give their
Master the most genuine proof of their love —
namely, that of self-sacrifice. Among these
chosen souls there are some who are more par
ticularly called to suffer as propitiation for sin.
They are chosen to wear their Master's livery,
and these victims include both men and women.
St. Francis Xavier, when dying on the coast
of China, murmured continually: " Send me
more suffering, Lord." St. John of the Cross had
his motto: " To suffer and be despised." In
the next chapter we give several beautiful examples
of priests who have lived a life of sacrifice.
Many others could have been cited, among
them those of Pere de la Colombiere, of Monsieur
Olier, of Pere Surin and Pere Ginhac. Among
the laity, Monsieur Dupont, " the holy man
of Tours," holds a foremost place.
More generally, however, as Huysmans re
marks, it is from among the weaker sex that God
chooses His victims of expiation, a fact which
this writer explains thus :
" God seems to have set women apart to pay
the debt of sin. Men saints have a wider sphere
of action and one that attracts attention.
They travel all over the world, found or reform
Religious Orders, convert the heathen, exercise
their ministry in the pulpit by their eloquence.
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
Woman has a more passive role to fulfil: she
has not the sacerdotal character and may pass
her life in silent suffering on a bed of sickness.
The temperament of a woman is more affectionate
and devoted, as well as less selfish than a man's.
She is likewise more impressionable and sus
ceptible of emotion. Our Lord Himself met
with a readier welcome from women; they
excel in little and refined attentions, little acts
of thoughtful charity such indeed as a man, unless
he is a St. Francis of Assisi, overlooks." Further,
virgins vowed to celibacy have no outlet for
mother-love so instinctive in woman, consequently
they lavish all the wealth of their affections upon
our Blessed Lord, giving Him the love of a spouse
and a mother, for them He is as it were both child
and husband. The joys of Bethlehem appeal
more to women than to men, whence it follows
that they are more ready to respond to the
Divine call. Therefore, notwithstanding their
changeableness and illusions, the Divine Spouse
finds His privileged victims chiefly among
women.
St. Teresa used to say : " Let me suffer and
die." St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi amends her
saying thus : " Let me suffer and not die."
Marcellina Pauper, a Sister of Charity who
offered her life in expiation for the profanations
of the Blessed Sacrament and the desecration of
the sacred Host, said : " My life is a delicious
purgatory, in which the body suffers and the
soul rejoices."
8s
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
Veronica Giuliani,. a Poor Clare of the eight
eenth century, used to say: " Vive la croix toute
seule et toute nue, vive la souffrance " (" Hail
to the cross only ! Hail to the naked cross !
Hail to suffering !"). And Mere Marie du Bourg
said: " If sufferings were for sale I would rush to
buy them." To these add the testimony of St.
Lydwine, in the midst of her terrible pains of
body and soul: " I am not to be pitied, for I am
happy. If I could obtain my cure by reciting
one Ave Maria, I would not say it."
Some readers may object: "These heroic
souls lived long ago, there are none in our genera
tion." The passage subjoined proves that such
an objection is unfounded. It is taken from
Une Religieuse Reparatrice (Perrin, 1903), to
which R. Bazin wrote the Preface. This
religious lived in our times. She writes : " I
desire to suffer. I will suffer because Jesus has
suffered for me and God asks for suffering as an
expiation for the sins of the world. I desire
suffering because it is the most powerful of
all prayers, because it purifies and uplifts the
soul. I wish to suffer because therein consists
happiness and my soul is hungering for true
happiness. Non mori, sed pati. I am ready to
suffer for a hundred years, if needs be, in order to
save souls and glorify God. I need, too, that
strength of the soul, that key of Heaven — namely,
continual prayer. Prayer unites one to Jesus,
and helps one to bear all things for His glory.
Prayer is the sister of suffering; they both unite
86
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
in giving themselves to God and saving the
world. Jesus never put them asunder in His
Hidden Life, His Passion and when on the Cross."
Simone Denniel, another Religious of Marie
Reparatrice, used to say: " The roses for Him, the
thorns for me. To be a victim with the Victim,
a victim for the Victim, this must sum up my
whole life."
In addition to these citations, many others
from contemporary sources might have been
given — for example, to name only a few, Xaver-
ine de Maistre, Theodelinde Dubouche, Made
leine Ulrich, Therese Durnerin, La Mere Marie
du Divin Cceur, and Caroline Clement. But
besides these saintly women, whose lives have
been made public, as a consolation and rebuke
to the world, how many in silence and obscurity
offer themselves as victims, gladly consenting to
do their part towards the work of Reparation,
as victims known only to God.
Blessed be these living holocausts, known and
unknown, for all the glory they give to the Lord
of all, and for the protection with which they
surround us, often without our knowledge.
" Some people think that with cannons and
ammunition our safety is secured. They do
not know that side by side with the horrible
progress of events on the battle-fields, an inevitable
mystical drama is being acted and the purest
sacrifice being offered. It is the lamb, not the
wolf, that takes away the sin of the world. When
seated in the amphitheatre of Ancient Rome, the
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
rhetoricians saw Christians devoured by wild
beasts as an interlude; they looked upon the
tragedy as an item of the entertainment and
nothing more. How astounded they would
have been had some prophet foretold that from
the blood of those Christians that soaked the
arena a new world would arise. If any man
had ventured to assert that the catacombs were
more to be feared than the Forum, what Roman
magistrate would not have deemed him a mad
man?"1
Thus it is in our days, the same law obtains
that those who suffer and expiate in the cata
combs are the first and most active labourers in
the work of supernatural restoration.
1 Robert Vallerv-Radot.
88
CHAPTER III
PRIESTS AND REPARATION
GEORGE Goyau, when giving notice of the
forthcoming publication of a book entitled
Lettres de Pretres aux Armees (Priests'
Letters to the Armies), calls the Holy Mass
" the greatest event in the history of humanity,"
and he adds :
" Daily, the priest brings the effective opera
tion of our Divine Redeemer to bear upon the
destinies of the human family. By a supreme
act he interweaves the weft of our daily sins with
the Divine Ransom; above the chaos of both open
and hidden faults he raises the Victim. Our
human history is continually being permeated
with this Divine sacrifice, a sacrifice both multiple
and one. To many this sacred rite is a mere
commonplace thing. Nevertheless, through the
agency of ^the priest, they are present at the
recurrence of the decisive moment when our
guilty world, so justly disinherited, was suddenly
put on the way to the plenitude of the super
natural life by the two Mysteries of the Incarna
tion and the Redemption. God has chosen
the priest to perpetuate these two Mysteries, and
no human catastrophe can draw him away from
this duty, which from the day of his ordination
is one, for eternity, with the very life of his soul."
We could not express more briefly the grandeur
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
and the responsibility of the priesthood. What
is the priest ? One who carries Christ on through
the ages. But Jesus Christ came upon earth
to give, to His Eternal Father, a Pontiff, a
priest who could adequately make Reparation
and Expiation. The priest, therefore, who is
charged to prolong, as it were, the role of Christ,
ought to imitate Him by offering himself with
Christ as an evidence of adoration and expiation.
The priest who consecrates will therefore be a
victim with Jesus. He does not understand his
whole ministry if he confines it to the distribution
of the Body of Christ, of the word of God, of
the forgiveness of Christ, and does not at the
same time accept the role of victim like his
Master, of whom he takes the place and per
petuates the work.
All the years Jesus spent upon earth He was
a victim, but He was not satisfied with this, for
He had determined to prolong His Sacrifice by
the agency of His priests. This He accomplished
at the Last Supper, on the eve of His death;
hence the Mass sets forth, without the shedding
of blood, the immolation of Christ bleeding upon
the Cross. Uplifted on Golgotha, Christ be
tween Heaven and earth will be a shield inter
posed between God's justice and man's sin.
Jesus' mediation will be accepted by God,
because of His wounds and His precious blood
poured forth. But Jesus is likewise the shield
between Heaven and earth, between God's
justice and our sins in every Mass. Each " eleva-
9°
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
tion " compensates for our manifold scandals;
each uplifting of the Host atones for some
decadence of ours, for our falls into sin, because
the virtue of His blood and wounds lasts on.
There are not two sacrifices, but this is the same
as that of the Cross, though set forth differently.
This is the formal teaching of the Council of
Trent.*
How many of the faithful, who hear Mass, do
not seem to have any knowledge of this adorable
Mystery ! How many use prayers which have
no reference whatever to the Mass, though
perhaps appropriate for other occasions ! How
many know the term " Holy Sacrifice," without
any conception of the exact truth and stupendous
reality with which it corresponds !
Paganism still lingers on here and there. An
old rustic used to turn his back to the altar where
the Mass was said on the Sunday and pray before
an old crucifix — the souvenir of a mission — placed
upon one of the pillars. To a Catholic who
suggested his turning round since our Lord was
on the altar, this peasant replied : " Your God,
perhaps, is there; mine is here." Such ignorance
is more widespread than is supposed.
But do those who know that the Sacrifice of
* Una eademque est hostia, idem nunc offerens sacer-
dotum minister to, qui seipsum in cruce obtulit, sola offerendi
ratione diversa (Sess. xxii., ch. 2). In divino hoc sacrificio
quod in missa -peragitur, idem ille Christus continetur
et incruenter immolatur qui in ara cruets semel seipsum
cruentcr obtulit (Ibid.).
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the Cross and that of the Mass are one and the
same know likewise that they are strictly bound
to offer themselves to God in union with the
self-immolating Victim ? This is obligatory, if
they would assist at the Holy Sacrifice according
to the spirit of the Church and the intentions of
our Blessed Lord.
The necessity for the faithful of uniting their
sacrifice with that of our Saviour at Mass flows
from several considerations, such as : the essential
principle of sacrifice and its practice from the
earliest ages; the most ancient tradition of the
Catholic Church from its foundation; the common
teaching of the Father of the Church; the
Liturgy of the Mass; certain special cere
monies; and even the matter of the sacramental
species, etc.
As far back as we can trace the history of
sacrifice as a religious rite, we find that the victim
was offered as a substitution for the worshippers,
who thereby expressed to God their sentiments
of adoration and desire to offer Him some expia
tion. Now this substitution would merely be
a pharisaical and material act. if, by the ministry
of the priest and in union with him, the faithful
did not offer to God that which the immolation
of the victim symbolises — namely, the homage
of their piety, and repentance.
When a Jew, under the Old Law, had a sacri
fice offered for himself, he had to place his hand
upon the victim, as a sign that he united himself
with it. In the Mass, we are reminded of this
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WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
rite, when the priest asks God to accept the
oblation which is offered for himself and for all
God's family as an act of propitiation. (H an
igitur oblationem servitutis nostrtz^ sed et cunctce
families tuce, qucesumus, Domine, ut placatus
accipias. — Canon of the Mass.) In the primitive
Church, the Christians gave the bread and wine
for the Mass, each contributing his share as a
sign of his spiritual participation in the Sacrifice.
The Fathers point out that as many grains of
wheat and many grapes are employed to produce
the bread and wine used in celebrating the Mass,
so the multitude of the faithful all united in
one body must offer themselves to God. This
glorious fundamental doctrine is always the same.
Christ is not complete without His Mystical
Body, His Oblation is only perfect when we
unite ours with it. }
Bossuet in his Exposition of Catholic Doctrine —
a book written for Protestants — explains how
Catholics hear Holy Mass. He says: "When
we offer Jesus Christ to God, we learn to offer
ourselves together with Him to the Divine
Majesty, in Him and by Him, as living victims"
St. Augustine teaches the same doctrine: "When
the Church offers the Body and Blood of Jesus
Christ to God, she likewise offers and immolates
herself. The true sacrifice of Christians con
sists in their forming one body with Him " (De
civitate Dei)
Unfortunately, so few of 'the faithful have
any practical knowledge of this sublime truth,
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which ought to be known and practised by all.
If this be true of the Christian, how much more
does it apply to the priest ! " How gloriously
the Church would stand forth if all her children
(and we may add, all her priests) understood
thus clearly the law of sacrifice. Along with
Jesus, in appearance dead, all Christians spiritu
ally sacrificed ought to form one Victim of adoring
Reparation. Grant, O Lord, that it may be
thus with all of us; may it truly be thus. May
we be immolated victims with our Eucharistic
Lord."*
The priest who really understands what his
Mass signifies and who would live up to it fully,
should do everything with his Host and nothing
apart from Him. Per Ipsum et cum Ipso et in
Ipso. All by Jesus as Victim, all with Jesus
as Victim, all in Jesus as Victim. To live and
not to live a crucified life should be to him
unthinkable. Undoubtedly, the priest has his
failings and defects, they are ever with him, but
he will keep his ideal before his eyes notwith
standing and realise that since he offers the
Holy Sacrifice, he must be a man of sacrifice.
When Mgr. d'Hulst was made subdeacon
his sister sent him a little picture on the back of
which was written: " Do not be a priest, without
being a victim." This would be an excellent
motto for all priests.
We have seen how a true deep knowledge of
* Grimal, Le Sacerdoce et le Sacrifice de Jesus Christ,
p. 277. Beauchesne, 1911.
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WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
the Holy Mass should logically lead every Chris
tian, and still more every priest, to offer himself
as a victim whenever he hears or celebrates
Mass. In like manner, a true and deep knowledge
of what Holy Communion really is ought to urge
every Christian, and still more every priest,
to make this offering of himself as a victim every
time he receives Holy Communion.
We can look upon the Holy Eucharist from
two points of view: as our incorporation with
the life of Jesus Christ, and as our incorporation
with His death. Both these aspects are equally
essential, soundly doctrinal, and have the same
claim upon Christian piety.
Yet, in practice, different people give these
two points of view a very different reception.
Most communicants, when receiving our Lord,
look upon it as a means of union with the life of
our Lord. But how few look upon the Holy
Eucharist as a participation in our Lord's Sacrifice
and immolation — in a wrord, in His death — as
St. Paul explains when speaking of this Sacra
ment.
As Bossuet says : " Because the death of Jesus
is always represented in the Holy Eucharist,
the imprint of His death should be stamped
upon all the faithful, who ought to offer them
selves as victims in union with the Son of God.
Such is the power of the Cross, a power that is
likewise ever living in the Holy Eucharist."
(Meditations sur VEvangile: " Cene.")
St. Paul tells the Christians of Corinth that,
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at each Communion, they " shew the death of
the Lord till He come " (i Cor. xi. 26), by
which he means them to unite with His immola
tion, to incorporate themselves with Him in His
death. The Author of the Imitation develops
the same truth : "As I willingly offered Myself
to God for thy sins with My hands stretched
out upon the Cross and My body naked, so that
nothing remained in Me, which was not turned
into a sacrifice of divine propitiation, even so
must thou willingly offer thyself to Me daily in the
Mass as a pure and holy oblation, together with
all thy powers and affections, as heartily as thou
canst" (Bk. iv., ch. viii.).
In another passage, St. Paul asks: " Are not
they who eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the
altar?" (i Cor. x. 18). His meaning is clear
if we remember the rites and symbolism of
sacrifice in the earliest times. As the Corin
thians, to whom he wrote, well knew, to eat of the
victim was equivalent to placing oneself upon
the altar and taking an active part as victim.
To eat of the victim therefore identified the
recipient with the victim. St. Paul reminds us
that, under the New Law, this likewise holds
good. The effect of our receiving the Sacred
Host is to give us a participation with the Victim,
to unite us intimately with Christ in His immo
lation, to put us in communion with Him — that
is to say, to become one with the sacrifice and
offer ourselves spiritually with it and consequently
to crucify the " flesh with its vices and concu-
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piscences " (Gal. v. 24). This involves giving
over to our Blessed Lord our work, sufferings
and prayers, our whole selves, that they may
be permeated with His spirit of sacrifice. We
are told that in the fourth century after having
received the Precious Blood in Holy Communion
it was the custom to touch the lips still moistened,
and with the finger make the sign of the cross on
the eyes, ears and forehead. Let us, in virtue
of our frequent contact with the Sacred Host,
endeavour to purify and sanctify our affections
and our thoughts, our heart, eyes and all our
members, all we have and are and, to this end,
strive to make the necessary sacrifices.
For as Grimal says: " If we desire to reap the
fruits of the Holy Sacrifice by Communion
without sacrificing ourselves, to be divinised by
the sacrifice without immolating ourselves with
it, we are simply aiming at living as parasites of the
altar and seeking salvation without the cross."
Holy Communion, rightly understood, not
only divinises, but likewise immolates : it can
not do the one without doing the other.
Further, rightly understood, it does not consist
simply in a treasure received, but must be a
treasure given by us; it is not just receiving a sac
rifice but giving a sacrifice to God. We cannot
worthily receive the Victim of the altar, except
on condition of offering ourselves as victims upon
the altar in a spirit of adoration and expiation.
On this subject, Mgr. Batiffol says: " Christian
piety will always be more attracted by the
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THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
Johannine presentment of Holy Communion as
a participation in the Divine Life of our blessed
Lord, than in the Pauline presentment of it as
a participation in His Sacrifice, which will
always have a darker aspect."
Will this verdict be revoked one day ? May
we not hope that when our priests have studied
more deeply St. Paul's doctrine on communion
with the Sacrifice of Jesus, they will then be
better prepared to teach the faithful to offer
themselves as victims, whenever they are united
with Jesus, the Victim ? There are not enough
souls willing to make Reparation. Is this by
chance, because there are not enough priests
who have a deep insight into the mystery of
Reparation ? How can Christians know it, if
those charged to distribute the word of God are
ignorant of this doctrine, or if, though conversant
theoretically with the grand teaching of St. Paul
on Holy Communion, as a participation in the
Sacrifice of Christ, they neither live up to it, nor
exert themselves with all their energy to spread
the knowledge of this truth ?
Grimal, in his Le Sacerdoce et le Sacrifice de
Jesus Christ, writes: "The great lesson of
the Sacred Host is the spirit of sacrifice. The
Eucharist re-enacts the drama of the Cross. . . .
The immediate and necessary effect of Holy
Communion is to unite us to Jesus as Victim —
that is, to Jesus immolated and immolating."
" Hence, the perfect communicant is he who
sees Jesus crucified and enters into His state of
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being a host. Although the Christian may be in
a state of grace and full of pious sentiments, yet
if he does not receive our Lord in this spirit of
sacrifice, he does not experience the grace of
this Sacrament in all its plenitude. He does not
understand the meaning of the Host (Victim);
it may be owing to his having been taught to
esteem rather those virtues connected with the
Holy Eucharist, which are of minor importance
compared with the one essential thing. If the
faithful fail to see the cross ever present and vital
on our altars, it may be because they have not
been shown it plainly enough."
This same writer continues : " In our sermons
on the Eucharist, our great object must be to
explain that the Mass is the living Memorial of
the death of our Lord, so as to inspire our hearers
with that spirit of immolation, which will make
them victims with Jesus in their daily lives. . . .
Let us not fear the reproach of insisting too
strongly on the harrowing side of Christianity,
on the Passion and on the Christian's offering
his life and death as a sacrifice of immolation.
Could we do otherwise ? Could we modify
or veil the chief dogma of the Faith and of our
salvation ? Let us preach this doctrine in all
its plenitude — 'that the Cross is perpetuated in
the Eucharist and ends in Heaven; that the
Cross is the portion of the believer and of the
communicant, who sacrifices himself by it, that
he may live eternally; that the Cross, in all
ages and more especially in our times, has a
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THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
special attraction for privileged souls, for the purest
and the noblest, for the lovers of suffering, for
the sake of carrying on and continuing the
Passion of Jesus. Who can describe the beauty
and the fecundity of the Cross when it rules all
the faithful ? Who can describe the beauty and
fecundity of these chosen souls, who draw their
spirit of Sacrifice from the Sacred Host and,
immolated with Jesus, are the fragrance and the
salvation of our poor earth ?"
" Grant us, O Lord, to be numbered with
these souls. Grant that we may help to increase
their number by our teaching and direction "
(Grimal, loc. cit.).
At the present day there is a great increase
in devotion to the Blessed Sacrament which
Rome favours in every way, encouraging frequent
and daily Communion. Let us therefore en
deavour to induce all who approach the Altar
so often to communicate in the sacrificial spirit,
as " hosts " (victims). It is not enough to
practise certain mortifications, we must lead
lives of mortification, embracing eagerly those
numerous occasions of conquering self which
occur all day long. We can do even more. In
the tabernacles of our altars, Jesus, although
alive, is in appearance dead. He permits the
priest to handle and distribute Him at will.
A holy soul writes as follows : " I think that the
greatest act of which the soul is capable is to
abandon herself entirely to God together with
all she can do, suffer and merit; to allow God to
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WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
dispose of her as He wills, and to let this donation
be known only to Him and to her. This oblation
is the soul's highest act, because it gives the
greatest glory to Jesus as Victim, because it
strips the soul of all she has and is. By this act
of homage to Jesus as Victim, the soul enriches
Jesus' voluntary poverty by the gift of all the
creature can possess and give. . . . This dona
tion of our whole being to God ought to be the
habitual state of those who unite with Him
frequently in the sacrament of His love, since
this self-abandonment is a strict condition
as well as the necessary effect of eucharistic
union with Jesus. . . . The bitterest sorrow
comes to the Sacred Heart from those who are
. . . selfish and forget that they are called to
complete Its expiation and intercession for all
men, and hence no longer belong to themselves."
Certainly, many of these would profit more
if, instead of communicating to satisfy them
selves, they did so to please Him — that is, if losing
sight of their interests they sought before all
His interests. This is the eucharistic ideal of
all communicants who are eager to expiate.
At the outset, a compassionate love is that
which predominates in those consecrated to
Reparation. They deplore the contempt, in
difference and insults offered to God, the ignor
ance and negligence of men, the persecutions,
crimes of the wicked, faults of good people,
even of the best, of those even whom our Lord
calls " His own," for among His specially chosen
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there are some unhappy falls. For all these
wrongs fervent souls desire to compensate our
Lord. Knowing their Master to be so often
alone, they visit Him. Since our churches are
so empty when daily Mass is said, they will hear
as many Masses as possible. In these empty
churches, so few approach the altar, therefore
they receive the Living Bread daily; thus
Reparation leads to the Eucharist.
Then, changing the roles, the Eucharist leads
fervent souls to a spirit of Reparation. The
Eucharist is no longer regarded from the outward
point of view as of little value from being
everywhere in the tabernacle, but the Eucharist
is considered and understood as what It really is
— namely, as the means of giving Jesus, who is life
eternal, hidden as a victim, to all men. The bread
and wine are but dead appearances: the faithful
communicant is a living appearance of our Lord.
What this means in the way of immolation we
have pointed out. The altar of sacrifice will
always be the great school of sacrifice.
It devolves upon priests to acquire and impart
to the best of their power a clear, deep knowledge
of the Sacrament, par excellence, of reciprocal
love.
Now, unless a priest has lost sight of the aspira
tions of his youth and the obligations of his
ordination, he must admit that, with his desire
for the priesthood, were mingled ardent dreams
of self-sacrifice, and that, on the day of his ordina
tion, when he vowed fidelity to his high calling
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and binding engagements, he likewise had the
set purpose of giving himself up wholly to a life
of immolation.
The aspirations of his youth 1 What ardent
desires are stirred up in a boy by reading the
lives of St. Francis Xavier, Pere Damien, the
apostle of the lepers, of the Cure of Ars or of
some missionary of Alaska or of Africa ! " Non
•potero quod isti et istte ? Can I not imitate
what these have done for Christ ?"
When they were quite little their mother trained
them to look steadfastly at the crucifix. There
are some truths well learnt from a saintly mother.
The hearts of children gather that something
quite unusual happened on the Cross, something
that bound them now and in the future. Jesus
there offered Himself for them; they then must
offer themselves to Him. What else was to be
expected ? In one way or another they imitate
the little boy who had heard about the Passion
of our Lord; he put his back to the wall and
stretching out his little arms in the form of a
cross, he asked his nurse to drive nails through
his hands and feet. How could he be " so well "
when Jesus was " so ill " ?
A child has a true and deep insight into things,
especially if he has been brought up at home in
the doctrine of self-sacrifice. Some parents are
quite careless about this item, but there are
others for whom this " item " holds the first
place in the education of their children. They
teach them to punish themselves, to deprive
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themselves of what they like. They not only
teach them how Jesus suffered for them long
ago, but also how the Church is suffering now;
they instil into them the truth — though not
perhaps explicitly — that God expects something
from them when they grow up. We will cite
a few examples of such teaching: When the
enemies of Religion were making the " Inven
tory " at a certain church, a Christian father
went to protest against this injustice. Fie took
his little boy with him, and lifted him up, that
the child might see how Catholics were defending
God's rights.
During the French Revolution, Mgr. de
Quelen being then a child, his mother took him
to visit the Carmelite priests in prison, that he
might see how badly they were treated.
Madame Varin felt certain that one of her
sons, Joseph, was called to the priesthood, but
the boy would not hear of it. Frequently
she would call the younger children around her,
saying: " Let us say a ' Hail Mary ' for Joseph,
who is not following his vocation." When
dying on the scaffold, she offered her life that
he might no longer resist the Divine call. God
heard her prayer, and as a priest Joseph Varin
was called to do great things for God.
In addition to his early aspirations the priest
has the call of his ordination; he cannot forget
that in obeying it, he fully purposed to lead a
life of self-immolation. When on that memorable
day — so far off perhaps, and yet always so near —
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the young aspirant, clothed in his white alb,
lay prostrate before the altar, his heart throbbing
with emotion, and offered himself to God, did
he not intend that, henceforth, his occupation,
his one ambition, should be to lead a life of
immolation, in union with his crucified Master ?
The bishop said : " Receive power to offer the
Holy Sacrifice"; and then "Thou handiest the
paten and the chalice, the instruments of the
Sacrifice. Remember they are the instrument
of thy sacrifice as well. Imitamini quod tractatis.
It will be thy charge to handle the Sacred Host.
Remember every morning when thou holdest the
Host in thy fingers to live as a host thyself.
Quatenus mortis dominion mysterium celebrantes,
mortificare membra vestra a vitiis et concu-pi-
scentiis procuretis. Christ is dead; thou must
lead a life of mortification — a victim along
with thy Victim. Thus only canst thou be a
true priest: see thou to this. Be it thy chief
care to harmonise and synchronise thy life with
that of Christ, thy oblation and immolation
with His."
Monsieur Olier writes: " I loved to peep into
the churches through the half-open doors, and
looking at the burning lamps, used to say to my
self: ' Happy lights, that are entirely consumed
for the glory of God and that ever burn in
His honour.' ' It is the office of the priest to
consume his life thus, since he must be, like our
Lord, he who sacrifices and that which is sacri
ficed. If all Christians are exhorted to offer
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their bodies " as living sacrifices," how much
more is the word meant for priests — priests who
say daily: " This is My Body."
True priests give us grand examples of their
faithful imitation of Christ as Victim, showing
clearly that they looked upon it as the essence
of their priesthood.
Abbe Perreyve asked three gifts of God on
the day of his ordination: that he might never
commit a mortal sin; that he might always
remain a humble priest; that he might shed his
blood for Jesus Christ. As a symbolic sign
of this last request, he celebrated his first Mass
vested in red — the colour of blood.
Some time before this generous soul went
home to his God, he wrote a meditation on the
death of a priest in which he says: "Priests
ought to look upon death as one of the functions
of their priesthood. It is their last Mass."
Following the example of Jesus, the chief use
they must make of their bodies — " an essentially
priestly use," is to sacrifice them. " They
must commence this death by the practice of
chastity, continue it by mortification, and end
it by their actual death, their last oblation and
sacrifice. Like Thee, O Lord, they should
prepare for death long beforehand."
A young cleric, in minor orders, of the Semi
nary of Nevers, who died on April 6, 1907, left
the subjoined spiritual will: " I commend my
soul to God, in union with our Lord dying on
the Cross. I desire like Him, with Him, and
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WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
in Him, to die a victim. This should be the
character of my whole life by my vocation and
by duty; may it be that of my last moments. . . .
I desire to live in God, detached from myself,
so that He may reign absolutely in my soul.
Joyfully I offer my Divine Master the salutary
sufferings of my last agony and the sacrifice of
my life in Reparation for the care I have so
often taken to avoid suffering and mortification.
I offer my life likewise for the Church, for France,
for my family."
During the War many, thinking that God
would ask of them the supreme sacrifice, offered
themselves wholly to God for life and death.
Pere Gilbert de Gironde wrote : " How glorious
it would be to die young as a priest and like a
soldier in a battle, when marching to an attack,
while exercising my priestly ministry, perhaps
in the act of giving absolution ! How grand to
shed my blood for the Church, for France, for
my friends, for those whose ideal is the same as
mine, and also for others, that they may experi
ence the joy of believing !"
Another priest, Abbe Liegeard, from the
Grand Serninaire de Lyon and a corporal of
the twenty-eighth battalion of Alpine " Chas
seurs," offered his life " that the misunder
standing between the people of France and their
priests might cease."
Father Frederic Bouvier, S.J., one of the most
learned of the historians of religion, said : " I
give my life for my companions in arms of the
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eighty-sixth battalion, that the many upright,
good men, whose one defect is living without
God and neglecting their faith, may turn to
Him."
A seminarist, Abbe Chevolleau, corporal of
the 90th Infanterie, wrote this in one of his
letters: " Pray that I may abandon myself wholly
to God. What matters life, the prospect of offer
ing the Holy Sacrifice, of saving souls later on,
if God asks me to offer myself as a ransom to-day ?"
This reminds me of two military chaplains—
Pere Gabriel Raymond and Abbe de Chabrol —
two dear friends, whom I must mention.
The former, a friend of old standing, succeeded
me in my little hut in the front line at Artois ; the
latter I replaced at Tracy-le-val in August, 1916.
From the way in which both chiefs and soldiers
spoke of their devotedness, it was certain that
they could not escape death — they were too
daring. We shall never know what acts of
heroism these two priests performed: they were
so brave, so calm, so unconscious of their merits.
Pere Raymond was crushed under the roof of a
shelter.
A report of an attack thus attests Abbe de Chab-
rol's courage : " The waves of assailants gave way
one after another before God's representative,
the chaplain of the division, Abbe de Chabrol,
as he stood bravely under fire with his hand
raised, making the sign of our redemption and
of victory." He was shot down in a fierce engage
ment, after having offered his life for the redemp-
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tion of the world and for victory, as Pere Raymond
and so many others have done.
One more example in conclusion: Pere Lenoir,
a military chaplain, died on the field of honour on
May 9, 1917. He fell a victim to his bravery
in succouring the wounded. The Lieutenant-
Colonel read to the regiment to which this
zealous priest had devoted himself for two and a
half years, and for which he had given his life, the
following few lines, which were found on his
body:
" IN CASE OF DEATH.
" I bid farewell to my beloved children of the
4th Colonial Regiment.
" From the depth of my soul of priest and friend,
I implore them to make sure of their eternal
salvation by their fidelity to our Lord Jesus
Christ and to His Law, by seeking the pardon of
their faults, and by uniting themselves to Him in
Holy Communion as often as they can.
" I bid them all meet me in Heaven. Also for
this intention, I joyfully make the sacrifice of
my life to our Divine Master, Jesus Christ, for
them.
" Blessed be God ! Long live France ! Long
live the 4th Colonial Regiment !
"P. LENOIR."
Abbe Buathier in his book The Sacrifice has
this exquisite passage : " Some unknown soul
leaves this earth a hundred yards off; no one
knows or cares. A few neighbours just make
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the commonplace remark, ' She is dead.' That
is all: there is nothing else for the eyes of the
majority.
" But this humble hidden soul had united herself
with the Victim of Calvary, she realised the
magnitude of the act she was performing. She
knew that not only was she satisfying for her
own debt of sin, but likewise paying for others —
that she was increasing her own merits and
bequeathing this treasure to the Church. She
knew that by her death she could give life to
many and offer them to Jesus : she knew, willed,
and longed for all this. Her oblation ascended
to Heaven, and in the midst of her agony her
sacrifice was consummated; her soul was inun
dated with that joy which is a foretaste of peace
and the beginning of eternal glory.
" For her, as for our crucified Saviour, death
had only been the supreme act of love. Men
see nothing in it, but angels look on in admira
tion, and God awards His crown."
Was there not something of this in the deaths
we have described ?
Some years ago it was said: "The Church of
France needs Saints." The Church of France
has had them, she still has them. The examples
given prove it, and many more might have been
given. Let us hope that, some day, we shall
know them all, together with the particulars of
their lives. Nevertheless, we must bear in mind
that the War, which revealed so much holiness and
heroism, created neither the one nor the other.
no
WHO SHOULD MAKE REPARATION
It was no sudden impulse, no mere chance,
which urged these brave Christians to offer their
lives as acts of Reparation, in union with their
Divine Master. It was, in each case, the result
of a long preparation, a volition. It was no
improvisation, but a calculated result. It was
the daily self-denial in the drab environment of
daily life, the practising of mortification, chastity,
and zeal, which prepared the soul to offer herself
so spontaneously, generously, and totally a victim,
and to accept the crucial act of the closing of life.
These brave Christians, let us remember, died,
as we have seen, only because they made " a long
preparation for death."
in
PART III
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
ALTHOUGH all Christians should make
A Reparation, they should not all do it in
j\ the same way.
The mother of a family might make
Reparation, but certainly not in the same manner
as a Carmelite.
There are three factors which play their part
in deciding to what extent each Christian,
individually, can volunteer to walk on the Royal
Road of making Reparation. These three factors
are:
1 . The duties of our state of life.
2. The leadings of grace.
3. The sanction of authority.
Bearing these in mind, we must likewise remem
ber that there are two degrees of self-oblation
to a life of Reparation. Taking for granted the
acceptance of suffering from the motive of love
as the essential principle of Reparation, Christians
will be divided in proportion to the measure in
which they devote their lives to the Cross.
CHAPTER I
HOW WE CAN MAKE REPARATION BY LEADING
A SIMPLE CHRISTIAN LIFE
PEOPLE are too prompt to think that, in
order to consecrate themselves to a life
of Reparation, they must necessarily live
in a cloister, practising silence and the
most severe austerities of Christian penance. This
is a mistake.
Reparation is not so much the observance of
certain fixed practices as a spirit which adapts
itself readily to any mode of life, provided it
be truly Christian.
" The spirit of Reparation." Hence, before
all, it is necessary to bring home to ourselves
and to weigh the fact that our Lord was crucified
— crucified for us — and that we must help Him;
to discover those around us — and how many there
are ! — who are being lost. This seems a small
matter, but how many Christians know nothing
about it ! If we live guided by these two great
thoughts we possess the spirit of Reparation.
As Chanoine Leroux of Brittany writes : " The
life of Reparation is not in itself a particular
form of the Christian Life ..." yet it is not the
common life found among all Christians. Why
not ? Because, on the one hand, we should try
to realise what the Christian ideal really means,
and this is rarely done. On the other hand,
114
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
" all those who are drawn to seek holiness do
not all look at it from this particular point of
view" (La Vie Re-paratrice, Desclee, 1909).
But no sooner do we possess this spirit of
Reparation than we see all that it demands of
us. We realise that, above all, we must be true
to our baptismal vows, and keep the command
ments of God and of the Church, not with a
fidelity such as the generality of Christians offer
God, but with an observance more integral and
precise, without bargaining with God or seeking
pretexts for escaping from our obligations. To
serve God thus loyally in our private, social, and
domestic life already opens out wide vistas.
An American author has written a story called
In His Footsteps. The story commences with
a minister who is preaching his Sunday sermon
on I Pet. ii. 21 : " Unto this are you called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you
an example, that you should follow his steps."
He delivered his sermon, to which his audience
listened with their customary respect, but suddenly
an old beggar interrupted him by calling out:
" What ! are you not ashamed ? You dare to sing,
Jesus, I my cross have taken
And left all to follow Thee,
and yet live as you do !" Having said this, the
beggar fell down dead. There was great con
sternation among the audience, greater still in
the soul of the pastor. On the following Sunday
he proposed to his flock that they should form
"5
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
an Association. Each member was to engage
seriously for one year to ask himself, before each
action: "What would Jesus Christ do in these
circumstances were He in my place ?"
A fair number joined the Association — mer
chants, journalists, politicians, etc. No sooner
have they pledged their word than they find
that they must change their lives. A certain
Mr. Norman, editor of the local newspaper,
is one of the members. They bring him an
article on the races — three and a half columns
of print. He asks himself: " If Christ were the
Editor of this journal, would He allow this
article to stand as it is ?" He decides in the
negative, and the article is destroyed. The
same fate overtakes other articles, political,
commercial, and likewise some advertisements,
with the result that the journal ceases to
exist.
We see the gist of this story and its exaggera
tions, but we can profitably retain something of
the underlying principle. How perfect would
be our Christian life if, like these imaginary
personages of this American story, we were to
ask ourselves before each action: Were Jesus in
my place and in these circumstances, how would
He have acted ? It is easy to see what a sudden
change this would effect in the conduct of indi
viduals, in relations between nations, in the life
of families and of society.
A writer dealing with the question of the fall
in the birth-rate — a vital matter in these days,
116
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
and one which convicts many Catholics of having
failed in their duty — gives this title to his book:
France Repeopled by Practical Catholics. The
title suggests a scheme while passing a sentence of
condemnation.
In no sphere can Reparation be made except
by the assistance of true Christians. These
must not fail to accomplish their task; they
must be Christians to the backbone, fearless
and " shameless," as Louis Veuillot explains.
Generous souls will always find numerous
occasions of practising their faith to the point
of sacrifice. In an earlier chapter we have
blamed the tendency, so common with many,
to seek the least discomfort possible in their
religion. Cardinal Manning writes: "We live
in easy times. Who fasts nowadays ? Un
doubtedly the Church is very indulgent. Never
theless, at the present time, the Jews keep strict
fasts annually, taking no food from sunrise to
sunset, a sharp reproof to us who are disciples
of Jesus crucified."
What terrible sufferings some of our soldiers had
to endure during the recent War ! For example,
the Marine Fusiliers, who, during the famous
campaign of Dixmude, had to stand in water
for twenty-six days, with no other food than
some tins of jam. Doubtless the cause for which
they suffered was worth the pain, but is the
cause of Christ less noble, though for this we
dole out our sacrifices ? Look around ! See
what men endure for the world, for fashion.
117
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
And we ourselves, what are we doing for souls,
for Jesus Christ ?
The crucifixes that please us must be artistic,
not too harrowing, made of ivory, mounted on
velvet. But remember, these are not the true
ones. The real crucifix is rough and it hurts.
When Heraclius recovered the Cross from the
Persians of Chosroes, who had kept possession of
it for fourteen years, desirous of carrying it to the
summit of Calvary himself, he put on his most
beautiful robes, his diamonds, and his imperial
crown. But the Bishop of Jerusalem objected,
saying: " No. This cannot be. Do you not
see the contrast between your luxurious robes
and the bare Cross ?" Then the Emperor ex
changed his gold and pearls for a hair shirt.
The Cros^s of our Saviour is one that crucifies.
Hence, what a contradiction it is for Christians
professing to follow Jesus Christ, to take such
pains to avoid the most ordinary penances
imposed by the Church ! Cardinal Manning
asks them with a touch of humour : " Allow me to
ask you whether you believe your neighbour
when he tells you that he cannot fast, nor keep
the prescribed abstinence, that it affects his
health, etc. ?" And he adds: " I have no scruple
in arousing the conscience of some of you, for
I am convinced that we are living in an effeminate
age, which tends to do away with the gentle
severity of the laws of the Church."
Whence it is manifest that we need not seek
further. Simply by keeping these command-
118
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
ments strictly, or always in spirit, we have numer
ous opportunities of offering God very meri
torious sufferings and privations, as acts of
Reparation.
Secondly, not only must we accept the mortifi
cations imposed by the Church, but likewise those
imposed by circumstances, such as reverses of
fortune, bad health, bereavements, misfortunes,
trials of all kinds. They abound; life is full of
them, and is represented by a lyre with seven
strings, of which one symbolises joy and six
suffering.
Bossuet compares our moments of real happi
ness to brass-headed nails that stud a door. They
appear numerous afar off. Draw them out and
you have scarcely a handful. Like the stepping-
stones of a ford, our joys are unstable and far apart.
" Who art thou ?" Beatrice asks one who is
watching Dante's boat as it glides by. " My
name ? Do you not see that I am a weeper ?"
" A weeper." Does not this define every
man in this world, at least at certain moments ?
Hence, how sad it is to see how few are able to
benefit by the tears they shed ! Every one of us,
with the total of sufferings which his life in
volves, has means of acquiring immense merits.
Most men make no use of them; they do not
trouble about the matter. Instead of utilising
their crosses for Heaven and souls, they waste
them, reaping no benefit from them, and only
find in them occasions of sin, because of their
rebellious feelings.
119
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
What should we say of a man possessed of a
fortune all in gold if, instead of putting it into
the Bank as an offering towards the restoration
of national historic monuments, he were to
stand on a bridge and throw the coins, one by
one, into the river ?
Is not our first impulse, when suffering over
takes us, to complain against God ? Our Lord
once said to St. Gertrude : " I wish that My
friends would not think Me so cruel. They
ought to do Me the honour of thinking that it is
for their good, their greatest good, that I some
times force them to serve Me by doing hard
tasks, and at their own expense. I wish that,
instead of being exasperated by these trials,
they would see in them the instruments of My
paternal bounty."
The elite of Christians grasp this truth. We
give a few examples.
A young religious was attacked by a terrible
illness, which carried him off very suddenly.
The parents knelt by his corpse. Then followed
this dialogue: " We will say the Te Deum ;
do you agree ?" " Oh, yes, with all my heart."
Ampere had just married and his future
appeared bright. Suddenly, his wife was seized
with a serious illness. In the depths of his
sorrow he had the courage to write this passage :
" O my God, I thank Thee. I feel Thou wiliest
that I should live for Thee, that my life should
be wholly consecrated to Thee. Wilt Thou
take from me all my happiness here below?
120
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
Even so, Lord, Thou art the Master; I have
deserved this chastisement. Perhaps Thou wilt
yet yield to the pleading of Thy Mercy."
What a power there is in strong, deep faith !
A mother heard that her son had been terribly
mutilated by a shell. He was a man of great
courage, and she wrote this letter about him to a
friend : " He suffers a veritable passion in union
with our dear Lord. It is wonderful to see
this young fellow, crucified, stretched out on his
cross of agony, and yet so happy, while suffering
a martyrdom every moment. I thank God for
linking him with the redeeming sufferings of
the Cross. In our grief, we do not understand
the mysteries of mercy which these trials conceal,
but I believe that in Heaven we shall know the
price of these cruel immolations and that
our dear invalids are very powerful in God's
sight.;'
This young man intended to become a priest,
so his mother adds : " What matters how we give,
so long as our Lord takes what He wills, and gets
all the glory He desires from His poor creature ? . . .
If my son cannot be a priest he can be a victim
and share the role of Christ; who would complain
at being treated like the Son of God ?"
Shortly after this man's legs had been ampu
tated, one of his brothers was killed. Still the
brave mother shows nothing but brave resigna
tion; she writes: "Only one more victim after
so many others. God gave him to us that we
might lead him to Heaven. He has reached his
121
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
goal. It seems so simple, but for us whose faith
is so weak, how hard it is !"
How many mothers, sisters, and wives, bereaved
by the War, have resolved henceforth to live as
mourners. It might have been otherwise had
they been courageous enough to transform the
sacrifice imposed by God into a sacrifice willingly
accepted, if they had said to their Heavenly
Father: " Lord, I thank Thee for permitting
me thus to share Thy Cross. Father, Thou
didst ask for my boy's blood, Thou askest for
my tears; I give Thee all. I should never have
had the courage to ask Thee to take my loved
one, but since Thou hast taken him, I will be
brave enough to say that Thou hast done well. . . .
I understand and ratify Thy act. If I cannot
say Alleluia, at least I will whisper Amen. So,
it is well."
Another mother, speaking of her son, who had
fallen on the battlefield with many others in a
glorious and costly campaign, wrote in confidence
to a friend : " You know that I gave him up to
God at the commencement and now I not only
accent the sacrifice, but will to offer it to God. I
place it in His hands." The writer underlined
these two words, " accept " and " will."
" My poor heart cannot reconcile itself to its
solitude, and it desires ardently to give itself
more fully, to offer itself wholly to God." Thus
wrote one of the many brave women widowed
by the War. O blessed yearning ! May our
Lord give it to many souls. She goes on to say
122
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
that her love, " too human perhaps, will now
become more supernatural." This is just what
God wants, probably it was why He permitted
the trial. Finally she prays " for great courage
in offering herself more and more to God."
The excellent nuns who have charge of the
Sanatorium of Villepinte have founded for their
patients a "Guild of Thanksgiving." One of
these young people hesitated about joining,
saying: " I fear I shall not be able to say ' Thank
you ' to God when I suffer."
The practice of offering ourselves to God as a
victim of love and Reparation is an admirable
means of overcoming this fear. It would be an
excellent practice for so many suffering souls, who
are paralysed by the shock of recent events.
St. Jane de Chantal used to say: "The great
wealth of the soul is to suffer much lovingly."
Real Christians know the truth of this.
Pere Ramiere writes: "The soul can unite
itself to God by prayer, and likewise by work,
but that which most intimately unites the soul
to God is suffering accepted for God, offered
to God, and loved for God. Such suffering is
the best of all prayers, the most fruitful of all
toil" Pere de Poulevoy says much the same:
"Undoubtedly the greatest consolation of ^ this
life and the greatest resource of our soul is to
unite ourselves to Jesus Christ. Yet there is
something better, and that is to conform our
will to God's Will; to be nailed^ to the Cross
with our Lord or to our Lord by His Cross."
123
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
Pascal's admirable prayer for the time of
sickness is well known. It expresses, better
than any prayer we have seen, the desire to
utilise to the fullest the trials of bad health, which
are so painful and serve so well as acts of Repara
tion. We give a quotation from it :
" Do not permit me, dear Lord, to contem
plate Thy Soul, sorrowful unto death, and Thy
Body, the prey of death for my sins, without
rejoicing in my sufferings of soul and body.
For nothing is baser and yet more common
with Christians, including myself, than to live
lives of pleasure, whilst Thou art sweating
Blood for the expiation of our sins. Take from
me, dear Lord, all sadness that is the fruit of
inordinate self-love and give me a sadness like
unto Thine. May my sufferings appease Thy
anger. I ask of Thee neither life nor death,
health nor sickness, but I beseech Thee to dispose
of my health, sickness, life and death, for Thy
glory, for my salvation, for the good of the Church
and of Thy Saints."
Elizabeth Leseur, living in the world, chose as
one of her mottoes : " Adoration, Reparation,
Consolation," and wrote in the same strain as
Pascal as follows :
" My God, I am and desire to be ever Thine,
in suffering or trial, in aridity or joy, in health
or sickness, in life or death. I will one thing only,
that Thy Will may be done in me, and by me. I
pursue and want to pursue one aim only, to
procure Thy Glory, by the realisation of Thy
124
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
good pleasure in me. I offer myself to Thee
to be sacrificed wholly, exteriorly and interiorly.
I beseech Thee to dispose of me for Thy service
and to aid the souls so dear to Thee; to treat me,
in so doing, as the commonest and most lifeless of
instruments."
All spiritual writers hold that the most profit
able crosses are those which God imposes.
St. Francis of Sales writes in his characteristic
style: "The best crosses are the heaviest, and
the heaviest are those which arouse our greatest
repugnance, those which we do not choose,
the crosses we find in the streets, and better still
those we find at home. These are to be pre
ferred to hair shirts, disciplines, fasts, and all
other practices of austerity. There is always
something of over-nicety in the crosses we choose;
because there is something of self in them, they
are less crucifying. Humble yourself, therefore,
and accept willingly those which are imposed
upon you against your will."
But does that mean that all voluntary practices
of penance are reserved for the exclusive use
of monks and nuns ? Many Christians—nay,
the greater number — are of this opinion.
There can be no greater mistake. We have
cited the passage in which Cardinal Manning
exhorts to fidelity to the mortifications enjoined
by the Church. To it he adds: " I would go
further. Are there any in our days who have
the courage to live as the Saints lived ? We
read and admire their lives. We know how
125
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
austerely and in what poverty they lived. We
praise all that and shudder even to think of it.
But what are we able to do ? Where are our
penances ? Do we wear the livery of Christ ?
While seeking to be placed by the world among its
votaries, we profess to be the disciples of Jesus
Christ !"
In all Christian countries we find this search
for comfort and pleasure — we find Catholics who
seek to serve God and Mammon. In our twen
tieth century, and especially since the War,
the world, including Christ's disciples — at least
the greater part — seems to live solely for enjoy
ment of some kind or other.
Pauline Reynolds, when making a retreat,
in her humility wrote as follows : " It is no longer
possible to dilate the vessel of my heart destined
to overflow with the Divine life. The time is
over. Yet, by fidelity to grace, I might have
cultivated those dispositions which would have
obtained for me a thousandfold increase of
life throughout eternity. But my will was at
fault. / set limits to trouble I would face"
How many Christians, when dying, will have
thus to reproach themselves ! Yet, if only we
put no limits to our generosity in serving God,
instead of giving Him a partial fidelity niggardly
served out, how greatly could we add to the
treasure of merits of the Saints !
Cardinal Manning in his book The Interior
Mission of the Holy Ghost explains how we can
make Reparation. He says : " First, we must
126
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
promptly follow the inspirations of the Divine
Spirit. Secondly, we must proportion our
fidelity to the measure of His gifts and graces.
We must cease acting meanly and burying the
talents confided to us; for a thousand talents
we ought to give back ten thousand. Finally,
we must serve God with great purity of heart,
and by this I mean two things : not only avoiding
all that might sully the soul, but likewise sacrificing
whatever tends to usurp the place of God in
our souls."
Hence, it is evident, means of making Repara
tion are not wanting. What is, then ? Souls
prepared to utilise these means; souls ready to
combat not only greater sins, but their lesser
defects. There are wanting souls, who will
devote themselves, not to extraordinary practices,
but to the steady, resolute performance of monoto
nous daily tasks and the generous accomplishment
of daily trifles, all of which they offer in Repara
tion. We often aspire to impossible deeds of
heroism, but " little things can reveal great
love." It is not so difficult to do great things,
they carry us away, but the ordinary duties,
insignificant and irksome tasks, exact a measure
of self-forgetfulness of which few are capable."
Mgr. de Segur, with his sound common sense
and characteristic subtlety, writes: " Our sanctifi-
cation is an edifice built up of grains of sand and
drops of water. For example, it consists of
such trifles as a glance repressed, a word held
* Vallery-Radot, Le Vase d'Albatre.
I27
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
back, a smile checked, a line unfinished, a souvenir
stifled, a welcome letter read only once and that
rapidly, a natural reaction boldly restrained,
a wearisome bore politely endured, a character
istic exhibition, an outburst of irritation sup
pressed at once, refraining from a useless purchase,
overcoming fits of depression, tempering nature's
transports with the thought of God's Presence in
us, overcoming repugnances : what is all this ?
Just insignificant trifles in the eyes of men who
may not see them, but wonderfully clear to Him
who dwells within us. Here is what we have to
watch closely. Here are both the smallest
and greatest proofs of fidelity that will draw
down torrents of grace upon the soul."
What miserable creatures we are, seeing that
such trifling acts of self-renunciation are the
measure of our worth ! Yet the fact is undisputed,
and no one who has tried to make these acts
will contradict Abbe Perreyve's words, when,
speaking from experience, he says : " When we
are children, it seems so easy to be a hero or a
martyr. But as we advance in life we under
stand the value of a simple act of virtue and that
God alone can give us the strength to accom
plish it."
Let us be faithful labourers in performing
hidden duties. Who knows but that, during
the War, the salvation of some soldier, who fell
in the trench or in an assault, was due to his
poor suffering grandmother offering her prayers
and aches for him. On the battlefield, who can
128
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
say where the bullet shot by the humblest
soldier finds mark ?
Do not, dear reader, object: "With what am
I to make Reparation ? How can I, who am
so ordinary and insignificant, do this ? Like
the prophet, I can only say: A^ a, a, et nescio
loqui — Ah, Ah, Ah, I know not how to speak.
I can only sigh and groan and stammer out my
inability. Saints ? Yes, they can do something,
but what can I do ?"
Just as you are, you can do a work of justice,
and atone for your infidelities by your fidelity
to God. You can do even more, you can not
only make up for your own spiritual poverty,
but you can offer Him your merits in compensa
tion for the defects and sins of others.
We alone, considered in ourselves, can do
absolutely nothing. Granted. But we, plus the
grace of God, obtained by humility and fervent
desires, have a strength and value far exceeding
our conception.
With what did Jesus nourish 5,000 people in
the desert ? With five loaves and two fishes.
What is the ratio here ?
Possibly this saying of one whose whole life was
an act of Reparation may carry home a deeper
conviction: " It is not of gold, silver, or precious
stones that our ' hosts ' are made, but of a little
bread, which is a common substance and of no
value." See the humility of her who thus took
courage. Her words are true and contain
consolation for each one of us.
129 i
CHAPTER II
HOW RELIGIOUS CAN MAKE REPARATION
SIMONE DENNIEL, a member of the
Congregation of Marie Reparatrice, just
quoted, died very young after suffering for a
long time from a painful disease, which
doubtless God had sent in answer to her vehement
desire to suffer. On November 4, 1910, she wrote :
" This morning I made a longer thanksgiving
after Communion, because I wanted to tell
Jesus again and again that I would be His little
victim. I thought that perhaps He was seeking
for victims and that it would be a great work of
zeal to instil into souls the desire to be victims.
Therefore I will pray and suffer, so that God
may increase their number, and raise up true,
pure, generous and holy victims."
It is certain that there are souls who are not
satisfied with a modicum of suffering. They
have for so long contemplated Christ on the Cross,
so deeply realised the miseries of mankind, that
they cannot do otherwise than wish to become
victims with Christ for their neighbour and to give
themselves to the utmost as a ransom.
In our ordinary language the word " victim "
has something derogatory about it. We willingly
say " sacrifice," but " victim " has not the same
halo. Thus, when we speak of our soldiers'
" sacrifices " during the War a glorious picture
130
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
presents itself to our minds, but when we refer
to the " victims " of the War the idea of suffering
predominates. Yet these two words denote
substantially the same notion : there is no sacrifice
without a victim. But while " sacrifice " spells
enthusiasm, self-surrender, voluntary immolation,
" victim " rather suggests the endurance of a
slave, bearing involuntarily some suffering which
might more justly be styled an injustice or
persecution.
It is regrettable that we have to use a word
which leaves an unpleasant impression. We
ought to employ it knowing exactly what it
means. When we speak of a victim, in connection
with Reparation, it does not mean suffering in
spite of oneself, but giving oneself up joy
fully. For some souls it is not sufficient to
practise resignation, acceptance and submission.
They seek the Cross; they long to find it, and,
having succeeded in their quest, with the Apostle
St. Andrew they exclaim: O bona Crux. They
kiss and embrace it. Notwithstanding the repul
sion of their whole being, physical, mental and
moral, urged by the love of Christ and of souls,
they stretch out their limbs upon the hard,
rough beams of the Cross. They offer themselves
to be nailed to it. They rejoice to suffer upon
the shameful and yet glorious wood.
A fervent religious wrote thus : " Formerly,
when our Lord manifested His sufferings to me,
I understood Him to say : i Thou shalt suffer
all these.' I knew well that I could never
'31
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
endure His measure of sufferings, but I see that
I must suffer in my measure to the full. If I
cannot equal His sufferings, I can always fulfil
my own." Then she adds: "My chalice is
full, how I wish it were larger !"
What a glorious ambition it is to be a victim !
It is a strange ideal, so utterly inexplicable, for
those who have no conception of true grandeur.
" To be a victim ! What folly !" they exclaim.
No, what supreme wisdom ! and how few "are
capable of understanding its sublimity, because
to desire it presupposes so much grace, so many
virtues. Yet more souls are capable of this
heroism than we might think. All cannot preach,
instruct, or write books, but who cannot learn
to make the sacrifice of self and to suffer ?
Thus to make the complete oblation of self
is the most difficult of all vocations, because it
calls for the maximum of self-surrender, yet
it is not so inaccessible as it seems, for when we
have attained the maximum, the rest matters
little. Again, only those whom God especially
singles out to devote themselves as " victims "
can rise to this degree, but the specially chosen
are perhaps more numerous than is supposed.
Let me here remind my readers of what has
been said previously, as regards the obligation
of consulting our director and weighing the
obligations of our state of life, besides yielding
to the attraction of grace. It is a very great
undertaking to offer oneself as a victim: it needs
more than a promise, made in a moment of con-
132
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
solation, more than a momentary fervent trans
port, to face a future that is so formidable. It
does not cost us so much merely to think of
suffering, it is quite another thing to endure it.
When we kneel in fervent prayer and pain is
seen from afar, it stands out in golden letters;
looked at nearer, we see they are really written
in blood. This does not necessarily involve
bodily martyrdom, but it does include a great
many trials, which disconcert those who made
their oblation with a too ingenuous presumption.
Bearing this in mind, Mgr. d'Hulst states the
exact truth when, writing to a secular, he says:
" The doctrine of Reparation forms the base of
all true interior life" Hence a truly spiritual
life implies the desire to live as a victim, normally
a wish, more or less accentuated, to be a sacrifice
(host). This is as true of the inner life outside the
Religious Orders as of that within them.
As we have already pointed out, it is in Religious
Orders — more especially in those whose one
object is Reparation — that we generally find the
call to be a victim in its normal, though not its
only, centre. There may be fervent souls, living
in the world, leading apparently a wholly secular
life, who are also deeply committed to a life of
reparation.
Mgr. d'Hulst's correspondent was one of these
privileged Christians. In three letters of direc
tion written by him between 1880 and 1885
he summarises his views on Reparation. He says
to her, in a letter dated November 19, 1880:
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THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
" There is so much to atone for, even — and above
all — in the sanctuary and the cloister. God
awaits some compensation from those who have
received very special graces and profited by them.
How grievous are these scandals ! Only the
thought of Reparation can lessen their bitterness.
In taking upon ourselves expiation we resemble
Him of whom it is said: Vere languor es nostros
ipse tulit. If we were deeply penetrated by
this thought, without binding ourselves to do
great penances, should we not at least cheerfully
accept the vexations and bitterness of life ?"
He then goes on to explain in detail how Repara
tion can be made: " We must make atonement
by the tears of our heart, by fidelity, patience,
deep piety, and love. We must offer our Repara
tion through the intermediary of Mary and of
the Saints, offering God all their merits, their
virtues, their love. We must make Reparation
by our sufferings, by accepting cheerfully our
impotence, spiritual darkness, anguish, weariness,
and heaviness of soul. When overtaken by these,
let us say: " It is well. I am ready to bear it;
the measure is not overflowing. It is better so,
better that I should serve as the wood of the holo
caust. If I cannot be the priest who sacrifices,
nor the victim, I can be the dead wood, burnt
by another, destroyed for the glory of God."
Holocaust ! This is the limit, there is nothing
beyond. A holocaust implies a sacrifice, not a
restricted offering, but a total donation, a complete
sacrifice, in which the victim is wholly destroyed.
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
Of all the acts of Religion the holocaust is
the most perfect sacrifice, the one that is most
glorious for God and meritorious for man, be
cause it is the most significant testimony that man
can render to God's Sovereign Majesty, the
most solemn protestation of His complete depen
dence upon the absolute power of God.
Pere Ramiere remarks: " Words are only too
often mere sounds pronounced by our lips.
God hears only those prayers which come from the
heart, and though their language is more sincere
than that of the lips, it is nevertheless liable to
illusion. True sacrifice consists in the creature
giving up self to destruction in honour of God as
Creator. Is not this the most perfect way
of confessing that God is the principle of his life,
the Supreme Arbitrator of his destiny ?
" Sacrifice is not only the witness of sentiments,
words, or actions, it is the testimony of death."
When sacrifice reaches the limit of the holocaust
it can go no farther. Man can offer no more
to his Creator. There is nothing beyond total
self-immolation.
The great difficulty, however, is not so much
giving oneself unreservedly once for all and
all at once, so to say, but after having made
this wholesale sacrifice, not to retract in detail
from the oblation thus made. The practice of
making rapines in the holocaust is traditional in
the history of the human race, even as regards
those who excel in virtue and strength of will.
God allows our self-love to assert itself, so that
135
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
we may always have numerous occasions of
meriting. It would be, surely, too easy, too
convenient, if it sufficed to make our sacrifice
once for all. Over and over again we have to
renew this oblation of ourselves and each time
integrally. It is this total donation that con
stitutes our sacrifice and transforms it into a
holocaust.
Practically this amounts to abandoning our
selves to God's good pleasure, in imitation of our
Blessed Lord, who said: " My meat is to do the
will of Him that sent Me, that I may perfect
His work " (St. John iv. 34).
Bossuet in his discourse on U abandon d Dieu
has some beautiful thoughts on this subject, of
which we will cite a few :
" Help me to make this act of abandon, my
God, so simple and yet so comprehensive because
it gives Thee all that I am, and unites me to all
that Thou art."
" This act of self-abandonment includes my
whole life, not merely that portion which I pass
here upon earth as a captive in exile, but likewise
my life in eternity. I place my will in Thy
hands, I give back to Thee my liberty of action,
Thy gift. I have given all to Thee, keeping
back nothing. Man can do no more."
By this act of abandonment to the Will of
God we do not remain inactive; on the contrary,
we are all the more active since we are more
under the impulse of the Spirit and become more
energetic in serving God.
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
Self-abandonment to God, as Bossuet explains
it, is therefore something totally different from
Quietism. In this little work we have fre
quently quoted him as an additional witness to
the orthodoxy of its teaching.
This act of self -oblation further includes
such acts as the subjoined. Never doing agree
able things for the pleasure we find in them, but
for God. When a choice of two actions presents
itself, to choose the more unpleasant. Since
Jesus can no longer suffer, to give Him our
sufferings even as the sacramental elements
give Him their form and appearances. To
let Him substitute our sufferings (since He can
no longer suffer) for His, so as to satisfy the ardent
desire of His Soul to offer sufferings for the Glory
of the Blessed Trinity and the salvation of souls.
To endeavour to become " Jesus " under the
appearances of " us."* Within the limits of
* No one has surpassed Huysmans in expressing these
thoughts : " Our Saviour cannot now suffer in person.
If He wants to bear suffering on earth, He can only do it
through the Church in the members of His mystical
body. The practisers of reparation, renewing the horrors
of Calvary, nailing themselves to the bare blank Cross of
Jesus, are after a fashion His counterparts. Nay more,
they, and they alone, render to Almighty God something
that He lacks, the possibility of continuing to suffer for
us. They satiate the desire that survived His death,
for it is as infinite as the love from which it springs."
They " give the mysterious Needy One the alms of their
tears and restore to Him a joy that He has renounced,
the joy of being a holocaust " (Vie de Ste Lidwine, p. 101).
137
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
discretion and obedience to desire and seek
mortification in the little details of life, as a
preparation for greater sufferings, should it
please God to impose them.
Such are the sublime aspirations of some
privileged souls. Joyfully they endeavour to
live up to this ideal, each according to her
special spiritual attraction and distinctive form
of piety.
A word in passing on the " Heroic Act " may
fittingly find place here. Some devout Christians
make the oblation of all their merits to be applied
just as God thinks fit, or for the deliverance of
souls from Purgatory. They offer all the indul
gences they may gain, and all that may be gained
for their intention after their decease, for the
release of the holy souls.
Another generous act is to make a vow always
to do that which is most perfect. Those who
make this vow should have sound common
sense, a well-balanced judgment, and the sanc
tion of obedience. Otherwise it might be a
fruitful source of scruples and eccentric actions.
Here, more than anywhere, souls need " a mind
that calculates and a heart that does not calculate."
Both are necessary, but the latter is a sine qua
non.
Others, again, go so far as to engage themselves
by a solemn vow to live as victims of Reparation.
In the Constitutions of the Benedictines of
Perpetual Adoration, which have received the
approbation of the Holy See, we read.* Voves et
138
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
promitto . . . omni studio servare perpetuam SS1
S* altaris adorationem et cultum, uti victima
gloria ipsius immolata (C. Iviii., § 23) — " I vow
and promise with all diligence to keep up the
Perpetual Adoration and worship of the most
Holy Sacrament of the Altar, as a victim immo
lated to Its glory." Hence, this solemn conse
cration as victim for the glory of God has the
formal approbation of the Church. Pius X.,
by a decree dated December i6th, 1908, and a
brief of July, 1909, accorded a monthly indulgence
to those priests who, under given conditions,
take a vow as priests to make Reparation.
But vows of this kind are as difficult to keep as
the vow always to choose the most perfect line
of action, which the Church speaks of as arduum
and arduissimum in the office for the feasts of
St. Andrew Avellino and St. Jane de Chantal
respectively. Whence it is clear neither is to
be recommended, nor made without wisdom
and discretion, prudence and authorization.
These are absolutely necessary conditions.
We do not propose to explain this vow of
Reparation in detail, we leave it to those skilled
directors to whom it more particularly appertains
and who can deal with it competently. Hence,
we pass it over with a brief explanation of the
foundation and subject-matter of this vow.
Those who desire to make this solemn promise
must commence by defining what they intend it
to include. These promises may embrace various
degrees, but, speaking generally, they can be
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
divided into two classes. The first comprehends
all those sufferings which are brought about by
the ordinary Providence of God — sufferings which
He has foreordained from eternity. Those
who accept these willingly are really^ " victims "
in the hands of God, and they offer Him a very
perfect oblation.
Secondly, those fervent souls — not content
with these ordinary sacrifices, and desiring to
immolate themselves more completely — who be
seech God to send them additional sufferings,
as a supplement to the former. These include
sufferings of body, mind and soul, or even a pre
mature death.
How far is this second and higher degree
(i) possible, (2) praiseworthy ? These questions
must be discussed with extreme caution and great
attention, for in such a delicate matter there
is a real danger of illusions. As great generosity
may lead to temerity, we must exercise all the
more prudence and apply more rigorously the
rules for " the discernment of spirits."
Of course it is not necessary to make either of
these vows in order to lead a life of Reparation.
They may crown such a life, but are not neces
sarily its foundation. They mark a maximum,
something as it were over the line.
It is a great victory for God that there are
souls in this world who desire sufferings with as
much avidity as the greater number of men seek
pleasures. It seems as though God rejoices
in the fact of their existence, by fulfilling wil-
140
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
lingly their hearts' desires. For He Himself
has given them this thirst. When God wants
to fill a heart He begins by emptying it. Whereas
all around them have no room within for such
yearnings, they are tormented with a thirst to
satisfy them to infinity.
First of all, they cannot let our Lord suffer
alone upon the Cross, they must alleviate His
Sufferings by sharing them. They long to wipe
His bloodstained brow, to expiate the blows
of the hammer when the nails were driven into
His sacred feet and hands, the purple furrows
of the lash, by their voluntary and loving oblation.
The back of Christ's Cross is empty; there they
will seek to be nailed, eager for one thing only,
to be crucified in His exact likeness.
They take the advice of St. Catherine of
Siena to the letter, which is as follows: " Let
the tree of the Cross be planted in your heart
and in your soul. Become like unto Jesus cruci
fied. Hide yourself in His sacred Wounds,
bathe yourself in the Blood of Jesus crucified,
permeate and clothe yourself with Jesus crucified,
satiate yourself with opprobrium in suffering for
the love of Jesus crucified."
A saintly soul, whose Life will, we trust, soon be
published, made this candid avowal to her director.
She wrote: " We would like sometimes to sing
the mercies of the Lord, be it ever so little,
but this poor lyre vibrates too much, owing to the
density of the materials of which it is made: I
can scarcely make any use of it. I began to write
141
'THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
to you a few days ago, but was obliged to
stop. The first note gave out such a volume
of sound, that a second would have snapped the
cord.
" My body is too small for my soul and my heart
cannot contain my love for Him. ... I can
rarely speak as openly with you as I have done this
evening, and I have only been able to do so by
looking away from Him."
It is related of a religious that, by a special
grace of God, she was so overcome with sorrow
at the thought of our Lord on the Cross, that she
had made a resolution not to look at the crucifix.
It chanced that, in order to go to the refectory,
she had to pass by a large crucifix fastened to the
wall. One day she raised her eyes to it, and con
templating the bleeding Wounds, fell fainting
to the ground.
Exaltation ! sensationalism ! you exclaim.
Be it so. But, after all, which is most extra
ordinary ? The one who cannot look at the
Cross without suffering, or all who contemplate
it without feeling any grief whatever. Unlike us,
Saints cannot look upon the Divine immolation
with indifference. Those strange beings, Saints,
suffer when they see our Lord suffer. Alphonsus
Rodriguez, a saintly Jesuit lay brother, wrote:
" It seems to me that were this suffering of com
passion to be prolonged, no form of torment,
however horrible, could be compared with it,
for this depth of sorrow of soul resembles that
of our Lord in Gethsemani, when He prayed
142
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
saying: " My soul is sorrowful, even unto death."
It was then that He sweated blood. This holy
porter of the College of Majorca offered himself
to endure all possible sufferings, even those of
the lost, in order to obtain from God that men
might cease to offend Him and that no soul
might henceforth be lost.
In the Ada Sanctorum in the Life of St. Bridget
of Sweden, whose feast is kept on October 8th, we
read as follows: " When very young, she heard a
sermon on the Passion. She was so impressed
by it that she imprinted these sorrowful scenes
upon the tablet of her heart. The following
night she had a vision of our Lord upon the
Cross and He said to her : ' This is the treatment
I have received.' With her childish simplicity,
she asked: 'Lord, who has done that to you?'
Jesus replied : ' All those who despise Me and
are insensible to My love.' From this moment
St. Bridget was so touched by the Passion of our
Saviour that she could not help thinking of it
continually, always shedding bitter tears over
Jesus' sufferings."
This exterior proof of sympathy with our
Lord's sorrows is a special gift of God, one of His
choicest. Nevertheless, this does not cancel what
we said above — namely, that the total abstention
from all outward tokens of sympathy proves
great indifference and inconceivable ingratitude
on the part of men.
If only the Crucifixion of Jesus did some good !
He is there, the Divine Mediator, suspended
H3
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
between Heaven and earth, so mangled, so
suffering, and so stupendously ignored.
How can we furnish the tribute of glory which
is due to God and refused Him by man ? By
loving Him ?
Alas ! a poor human word, and it represents
a still poorer thing. With what can we love ?
With our wretched human heart ? For the
heart of man to love God seems a derision, mere
irony. That which is the weakest, can it love
that which is greatest ? Can we, so ungenerous,
love Him who has given Himself without meas
ure ? His generosity is proved by the manger,
the Cross, Holy Mass, the Sacraments, the
Church. He gives all; how can we who limit
and begrudge our gifts offer Him anything ?
Can we whose love is feeble, so unworthy of
the name, love Him who is love itself ? No,
Lord, we cannot compete with Thee.
What a conflict ! To enter the lists with one
who wields the infinite, this thought inevitably
rends and tortures the soul. We long to give
and have not the wherewithal. We would
fain give much and our hands are empty. To
Him who is All, we must ever give so little.
Assuredly, it is not necessary to possess much
in order to give much. He who gives all he
possesses, however little it be, certainly gives
much.
Yet, herein is another source of spiritual
anguish: a continual torment, because one is
conscious that one does not give wholly to God
144
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
the little one has. We know ourselves and
cannot but admit our daily shortcomings. These
may be trifles, but still how hateful it is to show the
least lack of feeling in one's love of God. Hence,
what should lessen her suffering only increases it.
One longs to console the Master, by offering
oneself wholly to Him, but is conscious of
numerous evasions, acts of meanness and self-
love. St. Francis of Sales wittily tells us we
shall not get rid of this feeling until a quarter of
an hour after death. It is just this that over
whelms one. We have to serve God, who merits
all; we have so little to give Him and this little
is not fully given up.
God torments Saints with this constant anguish.
Their desires continually grow stronger, and
He only puts this consuming flame in their hearts
that He may contemplate their great magnanimity
with pleasure, amidst all the pettinesses that He
hates.
Sister Teresa, of the Infant Jesus, once said
to our Lord : " I offer myself to Thee as a victim,
a holocaust to Thy merciful love, that I may live
in an act of perfect love. I pray Thee, consume
me unceasingly; let the torrents of infinite tender
ness that overflow Thy Soul pass into mine,
so that I may be a martyr of love, O my God. . . .
O, my Beloved, with every beat of my heart, I
renew this offering to Thee an infinite number
of times, until earth's shadows shall have passed
away and face to face in Eternity I can tell Thee
my love."
145 K
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
In a meditation in which St. Mary Magdalene
de Pazzi received great spiritual illumination from
God, she speaks thus of St. Aloysius Gonzaga:
i Who can ever explain the priceless value of
interior acts and the reward they merit ! There
is no comparison between what appears without
and what takes place within. St. Aloysius, all
his life long, thirsted after the interior inspirations
which the Word breathed into his soul. He was
an unknown martyr, for all who love Thee, my
God, ah1 who know how great and infinitely
lovable Thou art, suffer a cruel martyrdom on
seeing that they do not love Thee as they would
wish, and that instead of loving Thee, so many
continually offend Thee."
It would be some consolation to those who
thirst for God, at last to find Him and hold
Him in a loving embrace. . . . But alas ! as
we follow after God, He hides Himself. True,
there is the Holy Eucharist, but the Real Presence
does not last always; it is so mysterious: Visus,
tactus, gustus, in te fallitur. There is sanctifying
grace, but the continual Presence of God in
the soul does not always ensure the presence of
the soul in herself.
We are continually away from ourselves.
Our frequent and trivial daily cares carry us far
from this precious centre where, by sanctifying
grace, "The Three "—Father, Son and Holy
Ghost — always dwell. God is present in us:
we are there not at all — or so little.
146
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
Then there is prayer, but even so we must be
content with faith, while we desire possession,
with the reflection instead of the gift, with the
image in the " glass " instead of the " face to
face."
We want to be like unto Jesus, and yet how
utterly far away He seems, how hidden, how
hard to realise. Then we must add those
terrible spiritual trials of aridity, when the Divine
Master seems so far off and dim that we can
scarcely recognise Him and cry out with the
Apostles on the lake : Pbantasma est ! — " It is an
apparition."
Yet Jesus knows we have left all to follow Him.
Marie de la Bouillerie, who became a religious
of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart, speaking
of her mother, said : " I will never leave her for
a man." But the religious leaves her mother
because she knows that Jesus was more than man.
She says resolutely to Him : " I will follow Thee.
Where dwellest Thou?" He replies: "Wilt
Thou follow Me? Come then." She sets out
for the Promised Land, knowing that the road is
long, and that it leads through the desert. What
matters it ? After a weary march, she thinks
she has reached her Master's abode, the King's
palace — she knocks at the door like the child who
once clambered up on to the altar, knocked at
the door of the tabernacle and called out : " Lord,
are You there?" and got no answer from within.
So for her, too, the Tabernacle door remains closed.
God does not reveal Himself.
H7
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
Deus absconditus — " He is a hidden God."
He crucifies and remains hidden, unspeakably
mysterious and unapproachable ! There we stay
knowing that He is within and could open, but
prefers to wait. Thus was it with St. Mary
Magdalene at the tomb on Easter morning. She
sets out at dawn with her humble offering, a few
spices — it is all she can offer — and she hurries on
her mission of love. She reaches the garden
and enters the tomb. The tomb is empty —
there is an angel, the grave clothes, some traces
of Him — but not the Master ! Yet " He " is
the one she wants; not just the word of an angel,
but a word from Him, His own lips; not merely a
relic of His showing He was there just now;
but Him, there in fact, now, plain to all of us.
" Art thou here, O Lord ?" He is not far off.
He is always close to those that seek Him.
" Thou wouldst not seek Me, hadst thou not
already found Me." Pascal places these words
on our Lord's lips, and they express a great truth.
Those who seek in earnest and cry out : " Lord,
where art Thou ?" are no longer on the way — they
have reached the end. While Mary Magdalene
was asking for Him, the Master was there, standing
in front of her. It was He Himself though He
showed Himself as usual, in a disguise, as a gar
dener, and she did not recognise Him: " Tell
me where He is. Wherever He is, let me go to
find Him."
If the Lord manifested Himself openly, He
would satisfy the soul's desire, but not His own.
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HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
He takes pleasure in the spiritual thirst of fervent
souls. He is like a mother who hides for her
child to find her. " God desires nothing so much as
to be desired," as St. Augustine says. That is
why His wise action tortures us, but affords
Him such pleasure. Deus absconditus. God hides
Himself, and this is why His lovers suffer so much.
Religious have left all for God, that they may be
united with Him and yet, in spite of all their
desires and efforts, they find they can never possess
Him and be wholly His. With the spouse in
the Canticles, they exclaim: Fasciculus myrrhce
dilectus meus — " A bundle of myrrh is my
Beloved." In the bitterness of their myrrh, God
finds a sweet perfume of the greatest love.
Thus He could not long withstand Mary
Magdalene's entreaties. Familiarly, as of old,
He pronounces her name, " Mary !" Nor can He
resist souls that seek Him. At times He allows
them to see Him as in a flash. They feel that they
need only throw themselves at His feet, and
stretch out their hands to lay hold of Him for
ever ! Then He speaks : Noli me tangere. On
hearing these words " Touch Me not," their
sorrow is at its sharpest. Is this to be the sole
reward of their love ? Has it counted for no
more ? " Lord, take away my heart's desire, or
have mercy on me," they cry. But then especially
He refuses to treat them otherwise. He wishes
to deepen their inward yearnings, and hence He
bids them wait with patience, and veils the reality
of mercy under the form of ruthlessness. It is
149
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
related that He once said to Pauline Reynolds :
" My hour has not yet come. Be patient, in a short
time you will see Me." " Do You speak thus to
a soul that loves?" she answered; to which our
Lord replied : " Yes, I speak thus to one who
loves because I love. Trust Me implicitly."
Amidst the sufferings which spring from a soul's
insatiable desire to give something, even much,
to God, He provides her with means of showing
herself more equal to her high ideals. That self-
sacrifice spells suffering, the soul is convinced.
She is unhappy precisely because her offering to
God has cost too little.
Then, God sends great crosses, such as aridity,
illness, false friends, persecution, failures, and many
other kinds of excruciating suffering. Our Lord
is never at a loss for crosses. His workshop is
full of them. At (Nazareth He apparently
spent all His time making crosses of various sizes
and kinds of wood.
This is how God acts: To slake a soul's thirst
for sacrifice He sends suffering. He fills the full
cup of suffering by making it overflow, and the
fresh influx of bitterness results in the greatest
happiness. Were we not accustomed to be so
continually baffled by God's mysterious dealings
with man, how amazed we should be at the
strange paradox, by which our loving God imposes
such great sufferings on those who are generous
enough to offer themselves as holocausts.
St. Lydwine, as we have previously said, ex-
150
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
claimed in the midst of her pain: " Do not pity
me, I am happy," and all who walk in her foot
steps re-echo her sentiments. Her biographer
takes these words as his text in one of the finest
passages ever written on suffering. This is the
substance of his remarks: Victims suffer most
of all and yet are the happiest of all. To offer
oneself for a holocaust is to offer oneself for
happiness, for Jesus owes it to Himself to repay
in peace and joy that which has been sacrificed
for Him so generously. This is the experience
of all eminent self-immolators. God compen
sates them so abundantly for their sacrifices
that they exclaim: " Dear Lord, what a blunder
ing bargain. I meant to suffer and expiate, and
I have nothing but happiness." A soul says to
Jesus: " Let me be nailed to Thy Cross by Thee,
O Lord." Jesus grants the petition. He drives
in the nails; then seeing the blood flow and the
victim break down, His heart breaks: He cannot
go on. He stops, draws near and fills the void
wrought by suffering with joy, so that the soul
begs to be spared joy, as earnestly as others beg
to be spared sorrow. Yet she goes on suffering,
but her suffering is her happiness or rather,
while still feeling her suffering, it is so full of
divine gladness that she would not be relieved
of the suffering for anything in the world. She
must have it to provide fuel for the fire of sacrifice;
and God trains the soul with alternate gladness
and grief, each making the way for the other.
Yet after all, suffering is swallowed up in joy;
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
and the soul's unstifled sobs break forth like
" hymns," as Bauthier finely says.
Abbe Perreyve, a writer who excels in under
standing and explaining the paradox of suffering
and joy intermingling or balancing one with the
other, writes: "How comes it, Lord, that no
sooner have I set out on the way of the Cross than
I hear such sweet consoling words ?" No sooner
has Jesus said: " If any one will come after Me,
let him take up his cross," than He adds : " My
yoke is sweet and My burden is light." The Abbe
continues: "I have only just commenced my
sacrifice when Thou givest me consolation; no
sooner have I taken up my cross than I feel Thy
Divine hand lessening its weight."
" O Jesus, Thou who orderest the sacrifices that
are needed, and yet dost ever diminish their pain
by Thy tender love, Thou dost command us to
renounce self, and when we practise detachment
from creatures, Thou givest us far more treasures
than we have given up. Thou commandest
us to take up our cross daily, if we would follow
Thee, and then dost exchange it for a yoke that
is sweet and a burden that is light. Thou art often
so pleased with the least proof of our goodwill,
and dost reward our feeble efforts with unutterable
consolations. Henceforth, I will not be afraid
of Thee nor of Thy Gospel, nor will I tremble
on hearing the word ' cross.' I know that the
Cross contains the secret of all great consolations;
and real succour in the pathway of life, where
inevitably we must suffer. I draw near with
152
HOW REPARATION SHOULD BE MADE
confidence to the Cross; kneeling before it, I
would find fresh graces of strength and patience
by meditating on Thy Passion. Dear generous
Master, do not refuse me this gift; receive me
in the ranks of Thy faithful Disciples, who,
following Thee even to Calvary, find courage to
endure their trials, and grace to exchange earth's
bitter sorrows for boundless wealth."
Can we do better than close this chapter with
such a beautiful, fervent, confiding and humble
prayer ?
Humility is the characteristic that finally sets
its hallowing seal upon the true spirit of Repara
tion. All who resolve to devote themselves with
Christ, to redeem the world by suffering, tremble
as they do so, knowing their utter helplessness.
They know that, left to themselves, the least
touch of suffering would put them to flight.
Those who offer themselves with the wine of
the sacrifice know well that they are but drops of
water. It is ever the most generous who realise
most fully the utter insignificance of their gifts.
153
CONCLUSION
WE have not tried to write an exhaustive
or learned treatise on Reparation, but
to explain simply the theological and
dogmatic foundation upon which it
rests, and the proper place in Christian life and
thought of this Ideal.
At the present moment many seem to be drawn
towards it, but because they do not clearly under
stand in what it consists, they hesitate, fumble
about, give up, or go off on the wrong scent.
These few pages seek to awaken some souls, and to
help those already awake, but needing enlighten
ment, by sketching out the first principles.
Undoubtedly, in such a matter, a monograph
or a living example is better than a booklet.
This is why we have so frequently quoted from
lives. However, a brief outline of the theory
may be useful and serve as an attraction and a
landmark. Afterwards, the perusal of deeper
treatises, the advice of a skilled director, and the
grace of the Holy Spirit, may complete the work
of enlightenment, conviction and stimulation.
During the recent War, along the roads leading
to the battle front, here and there, you came across
notice-boards, on which were roughly scrawled
names of places and arrows. They pointed
the way to some definite goal. These pages are
154
CONCLUSION
simply meant to say: To SELF-SACRIFICE —
" Follow the Way of Reparation." They tell
you the road to the goal from afar, not what
you will find when you get there.
Just as only those who lived in the trenches
during the War know what kind of life our
soldiers lived, and all that happened there, and
alone can speak of it with authority, whether or
no they are listened to or believed in, so only
those who have been taught by God, either by
personal experience or by contact with privileged
souls, can adequately instruct others in the
complete overthrow of self-love, in self-anni
hilation, and in the blood- dyed festivities of the
total giving over of self to God.
This accounts for the particular form of this
book, for its incomplete and cursory nature.
It does not befit us to sound depths which God
reserves to Himself, to search into " the King's
secret " and explain how He communicates Him
self to those whom He calls to give up all for
Him. To do that presupposes authority, practical
asceticism, and mystical experience, and some
thing else which the author does not possess.
A blind man does not describe light.
We are only too conscious of how far this little
book falls short of expectation. But, however
imperfect this modest work be, God can utilise
it for His glory, if He so wills. Sometimes He
makes use of the most inadequate means to
produce the results He desires.
In September, 191/5 during the War, two
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
soldiers were on leave at Hersin-Coupigny in
Pas-de-Calais. They decided to return to their
native village to look for their savings, which
they had buried before leaving for the campaign.
One found his money, the other nothing what
ever. Before returning they went to see their
old church. Alas ! it was in ruins, only a cast-
iron crucifix that had been fastened to the wall
remained erect. One of the soldiers reverently
kissed it, in presence of a group of Canadian
comrades who applauded heartily. Then, turn
ing to his companion, he said: " You have found
your treasure and now I have found mine. I
will take it away." They took the heavy cross,
carried it over the beaten tracks, and through
underground passages, and at last, covered with
mud and dripping with perspiration, they reached
Hersin and there placed the cross of their church
in safety.
To find the Cross, not that of a church in
ruins and among the debris, but our Lord's
Cross planted on Calvary, might seem an easy
task. Yet it is not. As Mgr. d'Hulst truthfully
says when speaking of the Feast of the Finding of
the Holy Cross: " It is a great discovery. For
a long time we have had thieves' crosses that
dishonour, but the great revelation is the Cross
of Jesus. How many souls have yet to find it !"
Yes, souls must first find the Cross, but this
does not suffice. They must clasp the Cross
in their arms. The Canadians applauded their
brave comrade. The world will not understand
CONCLUSION
the true Christian's love of the Cross. What
matters it ?
Having taken up their Cross, they must place it
resolutely upon their shoulders. They will find
their narrow paths, their subterranean passages,
and obstacles which will make them stumble and
fall. The path is rough, the road long. They
will often be tempted to throw down their burden,
to rid themselves of its weight and ease their
aching limbs. Then the Master asks : " Wilt thou
leave Me there ? Is there no one who will, like
Simon and Veronica, take charge of my Cross and
help Me?" Will none come forward? Are our
A/taster's words true ?
One day, while Blessed Angela of Foligno was
hearing Mass, our Lord gave her a great realisation
of the sufferings of Jesus on the Cross. She writes :
" I heard Him bless the unselfish who imitated
His Passion and took pity on Him. He said:
' May the hand of My Father bless you, who
have shared and wept over My Passion. You
whom I have ransomed from hell by My terrible
sufferings have taken pity on Me. May His
blessing rest on the faithful who have remembered
My Passion and kept the memory of it in their
hearts, for they have offered to their Lord in
His desolation the sacred hospitality of their love.
" I was naked upon the Cross, I hungered and
thirsted, and you pitied Me. I bless you for
your work of mercy. In your last moments,
I will welcome you, saying: Come, ye blessed of
THE IDEAL OF REPARATION
My Father, for I hungered and you dealt out to
Me the bread of your compassion. If, hanging
upon the Cross, I prayed for My executioners,
what shall I say of you who have served Me so
faithfully when I come in glory to judge the
world ? I cannot express the love I feel for all
hearts full of pity."
More than ever, at the present time, Jesus
asks for " devoted souls, ready to imitate His
Passion and to pity Him."
May the Divine Master lead at least a few of
the readers of these pages to enrol themselves in
the cohort of the " devoted," and grant them the
generous desire to join the " pitiful in heart."
Who is willing ?
" Here am I, Lord."
Printed in England.
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